Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal

THE

EDINBURGH NEW

PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL.

ikk^^

THE

EDINBURGH NEW

PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL,

EXHIBITING A VIEW OF THE

PROGRESSIVE DISCOVERIES AND IMPROVEMENTS

IN THE

SCIENCES AND THE

CONDUCTED BY

ROBERT JAMESON,

'^/STOti.

HEGIU9 PROFESSOR OF NATCKAL HISTORY, LECTURER ON MINERALOGY, AND KEEPER OF
THE MUSEUM IN THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH;
Kellow of the Royal Societies of London and Edinburgh ; Honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy ; of the
Royal Society of Sciences of Denmark ; of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Berlin ; of the Royal Academy of
Naples ; of the Geological Society of France ; Honorary Member of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta ; Fellow of
the Royal Linnean, and of the Geological Societies of London ; of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall, and
of the Cambridge Philosophical Society ; of the Antiquarian, Wernerian, Natural History, Royal Medical, Royal
Physical, and Horticultural Societies of Edinburgh ; of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland ; of
the Antiquarian and Literary Society of Perth ; of the Statistical Society of Glasgow ; of the Royal Dublin
Society ; of the York, Bristol, Cambrian, Whitby, Northern, and Cork Institutions ; of the Natural History So-
ciety of Northumberland, Durham, and Newcastle ; of the Imperial Pharmaceutical Society of Petersburgh ; of
the Natural History Society of Wetterau ; of the Mineralogical Society of Jena ; of the Royal Mineralogical So-
ciety of Dresden ; of the Natural History Society of Paris ; of the Philomathic Society of Paris ; of the Natural
History Society of Calvados ; of the Senkenberg Society of Natural History ; of the Society of Natural Sciences
and Medicine of Heidelberg •, Honorary Member of the Literary and Philosophical Society of New York ; of
the New York Historical Society ; of the American Antiquarian Society ; of the Academy of Natural Sciences of
Philadelphia ; of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York ; of the Natural History Society of Montreal ; of
the Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts ; of the Geological
Society of Pennsylvania ; of the Boston Society of Natural History of the United States ; of the South African
Institution of the Cape of Good Hope ; Honorary Member of the Statistical Society of Prance ; Member of tht
Entomological Society of Stettin, &c. &c. &c.

APRIL... OCTOBER 1841.

VOL. XXXI.
TO BE CONTINUED QUARTERLY.

EDINBURGH :

ADAM & CHARLES BLACK, EDINBURGH;
LONGMAN, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMANS, LONDON.

1841.

PRINTED BY HEILL & CO., OLD FI8HMARKET, EDINBURGH.

CONTENTS,

Page
Art. I. Memoir of the Life and Writings of the late Profes-
sor Blumenbach of Gottingen. |tBy Professor K.
F. H. Marx. Concluded from Volume XXX.
p. 240, . ... 1

II. On Gymnorynchus horridus, a new Cestoid Ento-
zoon. By John Goodsir, Esq., M.W-S., Conser-
vator of the Museums of the Royal College of
Surgeons, Edinburgh. Communicated by the
Author. With a Plate, . . . 9

III. On the Building Materials of the United States of
North America. By David Stevenson, Esq.,
Civil Engineer, Edinburgh. Communicated by
the Society of Arts for Scotland, . . 12

IV. On Pelonaia, a New Genus of Tunicated Mollusks,
with Descriptions of two Species. By Edward
Forbes, Esq., and John Goodsir, Esq., Mem-
bers of the Wernerian Natural History Society.
Communicated by the Authors. With a Plate, 29

Anatomy of P. glabra, 30

Anatomy of P. corrugata, 32

V. On the Proper Form for a Convertible Pendulum.
By Edward Sang, Esq., Actuary, Edinburgh,
M.S. A. Communicated by the Society of Arts
for Scotland, .... 34

VI. On some appearances inferred to have been con-
nected with the Antediluvian Congelation of the

CONTENTS.

Page
Interstitial Water of Rocks. By J. Black, M.D.,
F.G.S., &c. Communicated by the Author, 38

VII. On the Colours of the Dew-Drop, with a simple
Method of observing them. By the Rev. W.
ScoRESBY, D.D., F.R.SS. of London and Edin-
burgh, Corresponding Member of the Institute of
France, &c. &c. Communicated by the Author, 50

VIII. Icebergs and Changes of Geological Opinions,
Communicated in a Letter from Captain Vetch,
F.G.S., &c., of the Royal Engineers, . 56

Additional Note, 60

IX. On the Downs of Denmark. By Professor G.

FoRCHHAMMER of Copenhagen, . . 61

X. On the Traces of Ancient Glaciers which have
filled the Valleys of the Alps of Dauphiny, and
on those of the same nature, which appear to re-
sult from some of the Observations made by M.
Robert in Northern Russia. By M. Renoir. 77

XI. Notices of Earthquake-Shocks felt in Great Britain,
and especially Scotland, with inferences suggest-
ed by these notices as to the causes of such
Shocks. By David Milne^ Esq., F.R.S.E.,
M.W.S., F.G.S., &c. Communicated by the
Author, ..... 92

Register of Earthquake-Shocks felt in Great Britain, from
the year 1608 to October 1839 ; stating the exact dates
of their occurrence, and other particulars, . . 95

Farther Extracts from Sir Thomas D, Lauder's Account
of Earthquake of 1816, 116

Notes from Newspapers, 117

XII. Braconnot on Organic Matter in Primitive Rocks,
and Brongniart on the Conversion of the Felspar
of Primitive Rocks into Porcelain Clay, . 122

1. — Braconnot on Organic Matter in Primitive Rocks, 122

2. — Brongniart on the Conversion of th« Felspar of
Primitive Rocks into Porcelain Clay, . . 1 23

XIII. On the Composition of the Air found in the Pores

of Snow. By M. Boussingault, . 125

CONTENTS. ^

Pago
XIV. On the Geological Structure of the Northern and
Central Regions of Russia in Europe. By Ro-
derick Impey Murchison, F.R.S., M.R.I.A.,
President of the Geological Society of London,
&c., and E. de Verneuil, Vice-President de la
Societe Geologique de France, . . 129

XV. On the Artesian Well of Grenelle. By M. Wal-

FERDIN, .... 140

XVI. Section of the Bore of the Artesian Well of
Grenelle, with explanatory notes. By Sir John
RoBisoN, K.H., F.R.S.E., &c., . . 141

XVII. Fossil Fish in the Collections of the Earl of
Enniskillen and Sir Phillib Grey Egerton,
Bart., . . . . . 144

XVIII. Mean Results of the Thermometer, and the Quan-
tity of Rain, for 1840, af Alford, about Lat. 57°
13' N., 420 feet above the level of the Sea, and
26 miles inland from the Sea at Aberdeen. By
the Rev. James Farquharson, LL.D., F.R.S.
Communicated by the Author, . . 149

XIX. Abstract of Mean Results from a Register of the
Thermometer, Barometer, and state of the Wea-
ther, kept at Ancaster, Upper Canada, seven
miles from the Western extremity of Lake On-
tario, and about 500 feet above its level. By
William Craigie, Esq., Surgeon. Communi-
cated by the Author, . . 152

XX. On the Fossil Trees found on the Line of the Bol- ,
ton Railway, at Dixon Fold, near Manchester;
and the light they throw on several points still
undecided among Geologists. By J. E. Bow-
man, F.L.S., and F.G.S. Communicated by the
Author, . . . . . 145

XXI. Remarks on the Origin, Structure, and Life of the

Human Hair. By Dr Bidder of Dorpat, 165

XXII. Tabular View of an Arrangement of Minerals,

founded upon Physical and Chemical Characters, 174

4 CONTENTS.

Page

XXIII. Scientific Intklligencr, . . . 183

METEOROLOGY.

1. On the Spontaneous Evolution of Sulphuretted Hy-
drogen in the Waters of the Western Coasts of
Africa, and elsewhere, 183. 2. Power Plants possess
of Drawing off Electricity from the Atmosphere, 186.
3. On Noises proceeding from Aurora Borealis, and
on the Twinkling of the Fixed Stars in Scotland, by
Professor Necker, . . . , 188

GEOLOGY.

4. Surface of the Terrestrial Globe, 188. 5. On Indi-
cations of the former higher Level of the Sea in the
Mauritius, 190. 6. Kloden on the Sinking of the
Dalmatian • Coast, 191. 7. Volcanic Asides at Sea,
192. 8. On Human Bones of great Geological an-
tiquity, 192. 9. The Source of the Kiver Oxus, 193.
10. Thermal Springs in the upper part of the River
Oxus, 194. 11. fiot Springs of Greenland, , 194

ZOOLOGY.

12. Continuation of Dr Martin Barry's Researches in

Embryology, &c., 195. 13. Opium-Eaters, . 198

'scientific TRAVELLERS.

14. Mr Lyell's Expedition to America, 200. 15. Mr

Murchison's Journey in Russia, . . 201

XXIV. List of Patents granted for Scotland from 22d

March to 22d June 1841, . . 201

Owing to want of space, Notices of New Books, and Proceedings of
learned Societies, are unavoidably delayed till next Number.

CONTENTS.

Pag<s
I. Sketch of the Geological Investigations and Writ-
ings of Baron Leopold von Buch. By the late
Professor Frederick Hoffmann of Berlin, 205

II. On the Chemical Constitution of Sillimanite. By
Arthur Connell, Esq., F.R.S.E., and Profes-
sor of Chemistry in the University of St An-
drews. Communicated by the Author, . 232

III. Description of a Species of Skate new to the Bri-

tish Fauna. By John Fleming, D.D., Profes-
sor of Natural Philosophy in the University and
King's College of Aberdeen. With two Plates.
Communicated by the Author, . . . 236

IV. On the Animalcules of the Red Snow. By Dr C.

VoGT, 239

V. On the Action of Waves at great Depths. By M.

SiAU, Civil Engineer, . . . ; 245

VI. Report on the Collections and Geological Obser-
vations, made in 1838 and 1839* during the
French Northern Nautical and Scientific Expe-
dition. By M. Eugene Robert, one of the
Members of the Expedition, . . . 247

VII. Notice of the Principal Traces left by the last
great Revolution which took place in the Moun-
tainous Countries of Scandinavia. By M. W.

BOHTLINK, 263

VIII. Description of Vespertilio Daubentonii, from Spe-
cimens found in Aberdeenshire. By William
MacGillivrat, A.M., M.W.S., &c., Professor

CONTENTS.

Page
of Natural History in the Marischal College
University of Aberdeen. Communicated by the
Author, 255

IX. Notices of Earthquake Shocks in Great Britain,
and especially in Scotland, with Inferences sug-
gested by these Notices as to the Nature and
Causes of such Shocks. By David Milne, Esq.,
F,R.S.E., M.W.S., F.G.S., &c. Communicated
by the Author. (Continued from page 122.) 259
X. On two New Species of Leachia. By Henry D.
S. GooDSiR, Esq., Surgeon, Anstruther, Fife.
With a Plate. Communicated by the Author, 309

XI. Inquiries, Experimental and Philosophical, con-
cerning the Origin of Intestinal Worms. With
a Plate. By Dr Eschricht, Professor of Phy-
siology in the University of Copenhagen. Com-
municated by the Author, . . . . 314
XII. Tabular View of an Arrangement of Minerals
founded upon Physical and Chemical Charac-
ters. Concluded from page 182, . . 357

XIII. On Parasites, Animal and Vegetable, occurring in

Living Beings, and especially of a Cryptoga-
mous Plant growing in the Air-Ceils of an
Eider-Duck and destroying it, . , . 371

XIV. Notice of Professor Forbes and Agassiz' success-

ful Ascent of the Jungfrau, . . . 376

XV. On Sepulchral Remains of Ancient Nations dis-
persed through the North of Europe, , . 378
XVI. On a Convenient Arrangement in Orthographic
Projection. By Mr John Sang, M.S. A. With
a Plate. Communicated by the Society of Arts

for Scotland, 382

XVII, Observations upon the important part which Mi-
croscopic Organisms play in the choking up
of the Harbours of Wismar and Pillau; also on
the Formation of the Mud wh ic is deposited
in the bed of the Elbe, at Cuxhaven, and upon
the agency of similar phenomena in the For-
mation of the bed of the Nile at Dongola, in
Nubia, and in the Delta of Egypt. By M.
Ehrenberg, 386

CONTENTS. HI

Page

XVIII. Vegetable Physiology, 388

XIX. Description of several New or Rare Plants which
have lately flowered in the neighbourhood of
Edinburgh, and chiefly in the Royal Botanic
Garden. By Dr Graham, Professor of Botany, 389
XX. Proceedings of the Royal Society of IMinburgh, 397
XXI. Proceedings of the Wernerian Natural History So-
ciety. Continued from vol. xxx. p. 441, . 401
XXII. Proceedings of the Society of Arts, 1840-41, . 405

XXIII. Scientific Intelligence —

METEOROLOGY.

1. Falling Stars, 425

GEOLOGY.

2. Galvanism and Polarity as connected with the Origin

of the Structure of Rocks, 425

3. Artesian Wells, 426

4. M. d'Om alius on the Mineral Beds of Condros, . 426

5. Geognostic Position of the Diamond, . . , 427

6. Dartmoor Granite as a building material, . . 429

GEOGRAPHY.

7. Expedition up the Euphrates, .... 43Q

MINERALOGY.

8. Nitrate of Soda Quarries in Peru; — and Anhydrous
Sulphate of Soda, 43 j

9. New Mineral Species, named Anthosiderite, . 432

10. Occurrence of "Vanadium in Slags from the Copper
Slate, 432

ZOOLOGY.

11. Comparative Anthropolgy, . . . . 432

12. Glarine and Infusoria in the Mineral Springs at Stock-
bridge, Edinburgh, Moffat, &c., .... 434

13. Change of colour of the Lepus Americanus, . 435

XXIV. New Publications, 435

1. A General Outline of the Animal Kingdom, and Ma-
nual of Comparative Anatomy. By Thomas Rymer
Jones, Professor of Comparative Anatomy in King's
College, London, &c., 435

2. The Glacial Theory of Professor Agassiz. By Charles
Maclaren, Esq., F.R.S.E., &c., .... 435

3. A History of British Star-fishes, and other Animals
of the class Echinodennata. By Edward Forbes,

iv CONTENTS.

Page
Esq., Member of the Wemerian Natural History So-
ciety, &c., 436

4. A Familiar Introduction to the History of Insects ;
being a new and greatly improved edition of the Gram-
mar of Entomology. By Edward Newman, F.L.S.,

Z.S., &c., 436

XXV. List of Patents granted for Scotland from 22d

June to 22d September 1841, ... 436

ERRATUM.
Pag© 8, line 19 from the top, /or 1839 rtad 1840.

THE

EDINBURGH NEW
PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL.

Memoir of the Life and JFritings of the late Professor Blu-
menbach of Gottingen. By Professor K. F. H. Marx. Con-
cluded from Volume XXX. p. 240.

Let us now turn our attention from Blumenbach as an author
to his characteristics as a teacher, and let us regard him in his
class-room, whither the young as well as the old flocked, to be
instructed by his learning, at the same time that they were
charmed by his wit and humour.

The unrivalled success which attended his lectiu'es was hard-
ly at all diminished when he reached extreme old age, and he
did not give up teaching because strength or inclination was
awanting, or because his audience or reputation had diminished,
but solely at the solicitation of his relations. He understood,
in a way which is as rare as it is inimitable, how to unite
dignity with liveliness, the narration of dry facts and scientific
conclusions with mirth and jocularity, and how to season the
whole with pointed and pertinent anecdotes. Every one was
happy at Blumenbach's lecture ; and whether it happened to
be grave or gay, the student always left the room roused and
instructed. As pupils came to him from all quarters, and
returned home with a high sense of his reputation, his name
reached countries where German men of science were but little
known. With a letter of introduction from Blumenbach, one
might have travelled to all regions of the globe.

He possessed the art of not giving too much ; of limiting
himself to the leading features of the subject ; and of impress-
ing on his auditors what was essential, by varied repetition.
He assisted the apprehension of the points under discussion by

VOL. XXXI. NO. LXI, — JULY 1841. A

2 Prof. K. F. H. Marx^s Memoir of the Life and

slcetches wliicli he drew with chalk, on a board, by the exhibi-
tion of representations and preparations, and by the happy
quotation of well-known sayings. He thought it of conse-
quence that his pupils should learn from him the art of seeing ;
but he also believed it necessary that, according to circum-
stances, they should hear, smell, and taste.

The means he employed in his instructions were extremely
varied ; but it is very difficult to give a satisfactory account
of them, for they were too intimately combined with his pecu-
liar personal appearance and manner. It was necessary to
hear himself speak with his expressive countenance and action ;
with his remarkable tone of voice, which sometimes awakened
attention by its abrupt interruptions, sometimes by its sur-
prising inflections ; and with the impressive energy by means
of which he was able to give life as it were to the natural ob-
jects exhibited, and to present them in the most unexpected
points of view.

I could adduce many examples of the original and witty
modes of expression with which he invested the topics he treat-
ed of, but I fear that these would appear in a false light, de-
prived of the charm of his imitative representations, and
unsupported by his lively though invariably dignified demean-
our. It may appear as though Blumenbach placed especial
value on what was singular and curious ; but it must be evident
to those who look more deeply into such matters, that, while
undoubtedly he was attracted by what was out of the usual
course, it was chiefly on this account, because such subjects
remained unnoticed by others, or because they aflbrded him
the means of directing attention to facts of real scientific value.

Should we be inclined to ascribe the rare success which, in
an unabated degree, attended this celebrated teacher for more
than half a century, partly to the influence of authority, which
formerly was much more powerful than it now is ; should we
find a further explanation in the fact of there being no rival
in his department, in a university so amply provided on other
subjects, and that by reason of his whole external position, as
well as his constant good health, he was enabled to concentrate
for his immediate pui^poses all the means that were available ;
yet still we must be astonished at the greatness of his person-

IVritinga of the late Profesaor Blumenbach* 8

ality, which possessed the power of giving all this its requisite
form, and of uniting it together with extraordinary sagacity
and consistence. For a long period he formed the chief centra
of attraction of Gottingen. Many first became acquainted
with Gottingen by means of his reputation, and, guided by his
star, came to the scene of his activity.

In the summer of 1776, he gave, as a public course in the
great hall, vivisections and physiological experiments on living
animals. In the same manner, in 1777, he lectured on the
Natural History of Man. The same year he delivered lectures
on the zootomy of domestic animals. Although he lectured at
so early a period on comparative osteology, yet he did not give
a complete course of comparative anatomy till X785. He
taught for a long time pathology, according to Gaubius, medi-
cal literature, and physiology, and, in the winter session
1836-7, he gave the course of Natural History which he had
delivered no less than 118 times.

The three English Princes who arrived at Gottingen on the
6th July 1735, attended his winter course of Natural History
in 1786. The present king of Bavaria, then Crown Prince,
occupied a place on the ordinary benches of his class-room ;
and in 1803 was accompanied by Blumenbacli to the Hartz,
as far as Magdeburg. That this royal patron of the sciences
was not forgetful of that period of his studies, and of his
teacher, is proved, not only by the transmission of presents,
viz. the cranium of an ancient Greek and the insignia of his
order of merit, but also more especially by his sending in 1829
his son, the present Crown Prince, as a pupil to the university
and to Blumenbacli. When the king of Hanover honoured
with his presence the festival commemorative of the hundredth
anniversary of the university, he did not neglect to visit his-
old master in the house which he had so often entered as a-
student.

Blumenbach was born a professor ; in filling this office he
found his greatest happiness and his chief pride. The history
of modern science proves the influence he exerted, and the
contributions he made to knowledge, in that capacity ; innu-
merable individuals have bestowed their praises on him as?
their teacher, patron, and friend. Who could reckon the dcdi-

4 Prof. K. F. H. Marx's Memoir of the Life and

cations of greater or smaller works which were showered upon
him from far and near, and which were partly effusions of gra-
titude, partly marks of respect and admiration ?

Among the vast number of dissertations which have ap-
peared at Gottingen, the best have been produced under his
auspices. I would direct attention to the words of veneration
and love spoken of Blumenbach by the elder Sommerring in
his celebrated inaugural dissertation.*

When his scholar Rudolphi, in conjunction with Stieglitz
and Lodemann, also his pupils, applied to the medical men of
Germany, in order to commemorate worthily the Doctor- Jubu
leum of their great master, all, whose guide he had been, either
as a teacher or an author, came forward as one man, and tes-
tified their respect by means of a medal,t and the foundation
of a travelling salary. J The naturalists, on their side, endea-
voured to shew their sense of the services rendered by the
Nestor of their science, and named after him animals, plants,
and minerals. It gave him peculiar happiness when, on the
morning of his jubilee, the 18th September 1825, his colleague
Schrader brought him the drawing of the new genus Blumen-
bachia (insignis).§

* Be Bail Encephxli. Goett. 1778, 4to. With Baldinger's Program. : Epi-
tome NeurologisePhysiologico-Pathologicse, and in it from the Vitae Curriculo
of Sommerring, p. 15: Exc. Blumenbach in zoologia universa, mineralogia,
physiologia pathologica, historia hominis specially turn in fatis medicinoe tra-
dendis non tantum praiceptor mihi contigit optatissimus sed fautor quoque
insignis, qui familiarius etiam me uti dignaretur, ac pro ilia benevolentia
non tantum excursionibus ipsius zoologicis ac mineralogicis comitem me
saepius adhiberet, sed et in animalium vivorum sectionibus et experimentis,
qua; ille ad illustrandam physiologicara historise naturalis partem publice
Buis sumptibus instituebat, mihi quoque, ut ipse adjutrices quasi manus ad-
moverem, humanissime permitteret.

t The dedication was : Viro illustri Germanise Decori diem semisecularem
Pbysiophili Germanici laete gratulantur. On the medal there was the re-
presentation of a European, an Ethiopian, and a Mongolian skull, with the
inscription : Naturce interpret!, Ossa Loqui Jubenti Physiophili Germanici.
19 Sept. 1825.

; This salary amounted to 600 dollars, gold. See Gdtt. gel. Anz. 1829.
Part 73, p. 721.

§ See Comment See. E. Sc. Gotting. vol. vi. 1828, p. 91-138. Blumen-
bachia multifida is figured and described in Curtis's Botanical Magazine,
vol. Ixiv. 1837, fig. 3599.

Writinga of the late Professor Blumenbach, 5

Although the confidence of the public in the faculty of teach-
ing of the venerable old Professor rested on a firm foundation,
yet he never ceased his endeavours to justify that confidence
by refreshing his former knowledge, nay, anxiously adding new
information. In his note-book of a later period, the following
memorandum occurs : " Although I have lectured for so many
years, yet up to the present time I have never gone into my
class-room without new and special preparation for each of
my prelections ; for I know by experience how many teachers
have injured themselves, by considering repeated prepara-
tion unnecessary for lectures which they have already delivered
twenty times and more."

Blumenbach did not trust merely to his fortunate natural
gifts, but strenuously and unremittingly endeavoured to give
these their highest possible development. It can only be thus
explained how his oral and written communications' never
evinced marks of old age, but always continued to be interest-
ing, nay in some respects models, and never failed to merit the
attention of his hearers and readers. With respect to the
clearness and ease of his public speaking, the following remark
deserves to be recorded : he says, " Amongst the rules on
which my father laid particular stress in regard to our educa-
tion was this, that in speaking we should invariably continue
with the construction once commenced, that we should seek
out the proper terms of expression belonging to it, and never
recommence in order to find a different mode of expressing our
ideas. This advice assisted me greatly in extempore speak-
ing."

While Blumenbach became a most distinguished teacher by
a combination of natural talent, study, and experience, he also
possessed, by means of natural gifts and practice, the power,
in ordinary conversation, of bringing forward, in replies and
observations, the most important parts of a subject, some-
times by the most pithy remarks, sometimes by the most
startling illustrations. He was constantly able to communi-
cate an original turn to a topic, and to place it in a new and
interesting point of view. He sometimes termed reason " the
power of perfecting oneself, or the talent of accommodating
oneself to circumstances," and his conversation, as w«U as hia

i Prof. K. F. H. Marx's Memoir of the Life and

conduct, was almost always a continued commentary on that
definition. In one of his manuscript notes he says, " In my
lectures, as well as in my writings, I have always endeavoured
to follovv Quinctilian's model : Admiscere tentavimus aliquid
nitoris, non jactandi ingenii gratia : sed ut hoc ipso alliceremus
magis juventutem ad cognitionem eorum, quae necessaria
studiis arbitramur, si ducti jucunditate aliqua lectionis, liben-
tius discerent ea, quorum ne jejuna atque arida traditio aver-
teret animos, et aures prsesertim tam delicatas raderet, vere-
bamur."

After what has been already said of Blumenbach's exter-
nal relations, it is almost superfluous to give any details as to
his varied and honourable connection with the scientific world.
He was a member of no less than seventy-eight lettrned societies,
and, indeed, there was hardly any scientific association of note
in the civilized world which did not testify its respect by sending
him a diploma. His correspondence was of the most extensive
description, and many of the letters exchanged between him
and various individuals have been already published,* while
many more will probably still be printed. Of all his corres-
pondents, Blumenbach placed greatest value on Haller, Peter
Camper, and Bonnet ; and his intercourse vvith them was re-
garded by him as among the happiest events of his life-t

As secretary of our society (the Gottingen Royal Academy
of Sciences), to which office he was elected in 1812 for the
physical and mathematical class, and in 1814 for the whole
body, he had the task of communicating with similar institu-
tions and with scientific men of our own and foreign countries,

* For example with Zacli, with whom he corresponded more especially
on distant travellers. See Zach's Allgem. Geogr, Ephemcriden. vol. ii. p. C6,
158 ; vol. iii. p. 101. AVith Carl Erenbert von Moll, on natural historical
subjects, in the laitei^s Mittheilungen aus seinem Briefivedisel. 1829. Part 1.
p. 56-03. With Johann Heinrich Merck, in his letters published by K. Wag-
ner. Darmstadt, 1835, No. 197, 218, 250, chiefly on fossil bones.

t In his Medic. Bibliothek, vol. iii. p. 734. In Blumenbach's note-book,
he says : " 1775, Nov. 1. my first acquaintance with De Luc ; 1777, Nov. 21.
with G. Forster ; 1778, in summer, with Camper; in the same year, com-
mencement of cozTcspondcnce with Baron Asch ; 1781, with Reinhard For-
ster in Halle ; at Bern, 1782, acquaintance and subsequent correspondence
■ with Bonnet; 1786, comraencement of correspondence with Banks."

Writings of the late Professor Blumenhach, 7

of commemorating the services of deceased members, and of
preparing introductions to our printed volumes. We are all
witnesses of the zeal and kindness with which he performed
these honourable duties. As he regarded the age of eighty-four
as the usual limit of human life, it may be considered as one of
the remarkable facts connected with his life, that he reached the
age of eighty-eight before he expressed the wish to be re-
lieved of his high office.

There are other official situations to be noticed which
brought him into varied communication with others, and into
official contact with his colleagues and the authorities, viz. the
position he held in relation to the faculty, the library, and the
public collections of natural history. Of these different
spheres of usefulness it may be said that in them he gave
universal satisfaction ; and that in each of them he displayed
his knowledge, his experience, his affability, and kindly feel-
ings. As member of the faculty for bestowing honours, he
was distinguished for the conscientiousness of his decisions, by
the originality of the prize questions he suggested, and by his
mild but suitable mode of examination. He neither did too
much nor too little. During his deanship in the year 1818, he
made seventy-six doctors, the greatest number since the foun-
dation of the university. He still performed the duties of that
office, with nil its obligations, in the year 1835. His jubilee
as professor was celebrated on the 26th February 1826. Blu-
menbach himself regarded it as a singular circumstance that,
in the sixtieth year of his age, he was the senior, not only of
the medical faculty, but of the whole university senate. As
member of the library-commission, he was always ready to
give his advice, as well as influence, for the improvement of
an institution so dear to him. In his capacity as director of
the Academic Museum, he placed it in proper order,* and
superintended the arrangement till he reached a very advanced
period of life. His name was the cause of many donations
being sent to it from far and near.f

* Gcitt. Gel. Anz. 1770 ; No. 122, p. 986.

t See Blumenbach'8 " Nachrichtcn vom Ahademisclien Mhseum" in tke
Annahn dcr Braiimchiv. Liincb. Churlande, 1st year, 1787^ No. 3^ jp. &-4->&9)
aad 2d ycai-, 1788, No. 2, p. 25-35, . . >

8 Prof. K. F. H. Marx's Memoir of the Life and

On the 28th August 1806, Blumenbach commenced his
journey to Paris with Martens ; and on the 20th September
they had an audience with the emperor. On the 30th Octo-
ber 1812, he proceeded as deputy of the university, in com-
pany Avith Sartorius, to Heiligenstadt, the head- quarters of
Bernadotte, afterwards king of Sweden.

Blumenbach, in general, was little subject to indisposition.
In his youth he Avas delicate, and suffered much from bleeding
at the nose, and even spitting of blood ; but by great care and
regularity of life, he afterwards acquired very permanent good
health. He used to remark, that among many other benefits
which the study of natural history had conferred on him was
this, that he possessed the power of sleeping like a mole, and
had a stomach like that of an ostrich. It is true that when he
reached old age he was subjected to some almost constant dis-
agreeables ; but, upon the whole, he not only retained his
mental faculties in full vigour, but likewise his bodily strength.
After having stood extremely well the cold days of the middle
of January 1839, he was attacked during the succeeding mild
but stormy weather by a cough, which, however, again left
him. On the 18th January he had a severe attack of illness,
which, though it yielded partially to medical treatment, at last
terminated fatally on the 22d.

The father of the subject of this memoir, Henry Blumenbach,
originally a private teacher at Leipsic, went to Gotha in 1737
as tutor in the family of Chancellor Von Oppel, and the year
after became professor in the gymnasium there. He had a
well-selected library, besides many engravings and maps. His
mother, Charlotte Eleanora Hedvig, was the daughter of the
Vice-Chancellor Buddeus of Gotha, and died in 1793 at the
age of sixty-eight. His brother died in the prime of life at
Gotha, and his sister was the wife of Professor Voigt.

Among the interesting men in Gotha with Avhom he was on
intimate terms, was Vice-President Kliipfel, who, after 1774,
had taken no small charge of the Gotha Gelehrte Zeitung.

At the age of seventeen, and on the 12th October 1769,
Blumenbach Avent from school to Jena, Avhere Baldinger was
pro-rector. In 1770 Neubauer came to Jena, and to him Blu*
incnbach Avas much indebted. After three years' study ther^

Writings of the late Prof elisor Blumenbach. 0

he felt the necessity of hearing other teachers, and the repu-
tation of Giittingen soon induced him to select it for the pro-
secution of his education. He arrived here on the 15th Octo-
ber 1772. He regarded his coming to this university as the
greatest good fortune for his scientific career ; and he often
remarked, that he participated in the saying of Schlbzer:
Extra Gottingam vivere non est vivere.

By his marriage on the 19th October 1778, he became the
brother-in-law of Heyne ; and, as his father-in-law, George
Brandos, and afterwards his brother-in-law, Ernest Brandos,
conducted the affairs of the university, we may partly thus
account for Blumenbach's influential connection with these
matters.

What he did for this seat of learning as a whole, and for our
society in particular, is known to the world, and will be re-
corded in history. His name is permanently inscribed in our
Transactions, and his memory will always recall the image of
extraordinary and beautiful energy and activity.

On Ggrtuiorynchiis horridus, a new Cestoid Entozoon, By John
GooDsiii, Esq., M.W.S., Conservator of the Museums of the
Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh, Communicated by
the Author. With a Plate.*

The genus Gymnorynchus was instituted by Rudolphi, for
the reception of a worm which infests the muscular tissue of the
Brama raji, and which had been placed by Cuvier in the genus
Scolex. This worm Gymnorynchus reptans (Rudolphi), Scolex
gigas (Cuvier), is the only species which has been hitherto ob-
served. It is described by Rudolphi, Cuvier, Blainville, and
Milne Edwards, and figured by Bremser. The characters of
this genus, according to Rudolphi, are : — ^body depressed^
continuous, very long, with a subglobose cervical receptacle ;
head provided with two bipartite suckers, and emitting four
naked retractile proboscides. Bremser, however, represents
in his atlas the four proboscides not as naked, but as armed
with recurved hooks, an arrangement which can only be re-
cognised when they are fiilly extended. Milne Edwards, ih

'^ Read before the Wcrnerlati Natural History Society, J^eWawy 20, 1841,

10 Mr John Goodsir on Gymnorynchus horridus,

the last edition of Lamarck's invertebrate animals, has defined
the genus thus : — body depressed, continuous, or without arti-
culations, composed of three parts ; one median, subglobose,
prolonged backwards into a very long tail, and forwards into
a wrinkled neck ; the cephalic bulging, provided with two bi-
partite suckers and four papillose tentacula.

When dissecting the sun-fish, which formed the subject of a
former communication to the Society, I found in the liver a
number of entozoa which presented a very curious appearance.
They were cylindrical, very much elongated, coiled and
twisted on the surface and in the substance of the organ, one
of their extremities subglobose, and situate immediately
under the peritoneum, the other tapering to a fine point.
They adhered to the parenchyma of the organ by cellular
tissue, and occasionally where one coil lay over the other, the
two adhered. Their colour was cream-white, so that they con-
trasted strongly with the deep brown of the liver.

On removing one of them, and making a longitudinal inci-
sion, I found that it was not a worm, but an elongated sac or
cyst containing a worm, wdiich, w^hen withdrawn, was found
to be alive, although the fish had been a week dead. When
placed in lukewarm w^ater, it pushed out its head and neck
from the cervical receptacle, protruded the four-armed tenta-
cula, and continued in lively motion for some hours. The
globose receptacle, with the head and neck of the worm, were
lodged in the bulbous extremity of the cyst, but the tail did
not extend into the attenuated extremity.

I had no difficulty in referring the worm to the genus Gym-
norynchus. I may remark, however, that it presented one
character not included in the definition of this genus. It ex-
hibited, when gently compressed between two plates of glass,
distant, but distinct articulations. From an examination of
Bremser's drawing, and a consideration of the relations of the
genus, I strongly suspect that the old species is also articulated,
and that such a conformation must be considered as a charac-
ter of this cestoid genus. My specimens present a character,
which appears to be sufficient to distinguish them as a ne^v
species. They have a separate circle of large recurved hooks
on the tentacula, an arrangement not to be seen in Bremser's
figure of Gynmorynchns reptans*

Mr John Goodsir on Gi/mnori/nchus horridus. 11

The cyst enclosing the worm is double. The outer coat is
rough, fiocculent, and adherent to the parenchyma of the liver.
The anterior extremity is dilated, and in all the specimens
was situate immediately under the peritoneum. The poste-
rior extremity, again, was so attenuated tliat it was traced with
great difficulty, as it lay coiled about in all directions through
the substance of the organ. Within the outer coat, another
cyst is situate closely investing the worm ; it is smooth, trans-
parent, thin, and elastic, and does not adhere to the outer.
The worm is visible through this second tunic, and lies with
its anterior bulbous extremity packed up in the vesicular por-
tion of the cyst. When one of the animals was released from
its prison, and placed in water, it dilated its anterior extre-
mity, projected its head and neck, and presented the appear-
ance exhibited in Fig. 6, Plate I. The head and neck, when
withdrawn, are lodged in the cervical receptacle. There
is no particular muscular arrangement to effect this. The
tissue of this, as well as of the rest of the animal, was the
primitive granular tissue lately described by Mr Forbes.
The four- armed tentacula are retracted by four distinct
muscles, all of which consist of granular tissue. The ar-
rangement of this part of the animal corresponds exactly
with the same part in the Bothriocephalus corollatus as de-
scribed by Leblond in the Annales des Sciences Naturelles,
1836. The motion of these p^rts in both animals is simi-
lar, and the tissue is identical with that denominated by
Leblond " Sarcode," or elementary texture, the granular tis-
sue to which I have already referred.

The body, when gently compressed between two plates of
glasSj exhibited transparent transverse articulations at dis-
tances of one-third to half an inch. The most careful exa-
mination, however, revealed no nutritive or generative organs
in any of the segments. The dilated cervical receptacle, into
which the head is retracted, did not appear to communicate
with any arrangement of tubes or cavities in the elongated
body.

The most interesting circumstance in the history of this en-
tozoon, is the manner in which it is enclosed in a firm and
close cyst. It appears to me that this cyst is not altogether
the result of irritation of the surrounding tissues. The outer

12 Mr Stevenson on the Building Materials

coat of the cyst may be of this nature, but it is not so easy
to conceive the inner tunic to be due to the same cause. Pro-
fessor Owen, in his memoir on the Trichina spiralis — the en-
tozoon of the human muscles, — ^liolds that the cyst of that ani-
mal, although apparently consisting of two tunics, is the result
of irritation. Dr Knox, again, considers it to be a part of the
animal, although the latter lies free in the cavity. This latter
opinion is inadmissible, according to the usual conception of an
individual animal. Might we not conceive the cysts to be
essential parts of all such entozoa, inasmuch as they are never
absent ? and may we not suppose them to be parts of the origi-
nal ovum within which the animal was formed, and in which
it passes the term of its existence ? Without having any facts to
adduce in proof, I hazard this supposition as a hint for future
research ; and as it is not at variance with any of the known
conditions of animal existence, it is worth consideration in a
fresh investigation of the subject.

EXPLANATION OF THE FIGURES (PLATE I).

Fig. 4. Entozoon inclosed in botli cysts.

Fig. 5. The internal transparent cyst, with the worm seen through it.

Fig. 6. The worm removed from the cyst and fully expanded.

Fig. 7. The cervical receptacle opened to shew the retracted head and

neck.
Fig. 8. The four muscles of the proboscides.

On the Building Materials of the United States of North Ame-
rica, By David Stevenson, Esq., Civil Engineer, Edin-
burgh. Communicated by the Society of Arts for Scotland.

There is, perhaps, nothing connected with the useful arts,
which has a greater share in forming the characteristic appear-
ance of a country, than the materials which it produces, and of
which its public works are necessarily constructed. I use the
word materials, in the technical sense in which it is employed
by engineers and architects, to denote the several productions
of the mineral and vegetable kingdoms which are used in the
construction of engineering and architectural works ; and we
have only to look around us for a moment, to be at once con-
vinced how much these, in their almost endless variety, affect

PL A T £ I . E3ifv':NewFkd. Jour. Vol.3J.p.]2x :i'l.

luj I

Fig. 2.

Fu^.4.

Fi^.5.

~^^^

Fi^.e.

^

:<r

^

Fi^.7.

Fi^.8.

^^

§1

!••'
W

.r,rM..r;„i/ .s,

y/^/

of the United States of North America, 13 .

the appearance, as well as modify the structure, of the public
works of every country.

A good illustration of the truth of this observation presents
itself, when we compai-e the circumstances of Scotland and
England in this respect ; the former being what may be
termed a stone, and the latter a brick country. To what cir-
cumstance can the far-famed beauty of the Scottish metropolis
be more reasonably attributed, than to the great abundance
of beautiful sandstone afforded by the quarries in its immediate
vicinity, to which its street architecture and public buildings
are so greatly indebted for their striking appearance. This
remark applies, as we are well aware, not only to Edinburgh,
but to many other towns in Scotland ; while our less highly-
favoured neighbours in the south, from the scarcity of good
coloured building-stone in some districts, and the total want
of it in others, are reduced to the necessity of using brick for
their dwelling-houses, and in many instances for their public
buildings. So generally acknowledged are the fine qualities
of the stone from many of the Scotch quarries, that it is ex-
ported to a considerable extent. To London itself, indeed,,
a large quantity of stone is annually sent from Craigleith in
Mid-Lothian, which is the largest, and probably the finest sand-
stone quarry in the world, and from which the dwelling-
houses in the New Town of Edinburgh, and most of the public
buildings, were in a great measure built.

Many similar illustrations may be found, even in matters of
much smaller importance than that to which I have just
alluded. In Great Britain, for example, with the exception of
some districts in England, the roofs of houses are very gene-
rally covered with slates, the greater part of which are supplied
by the extensive slate-quarries of Bangor in North Wales, and
Easdale, Balachulish, and others, on the west coast of Scotland.
But Holland has not the advantage of alike supply, and conse-
quently the houses in that country are invariably covered with
tiles ; and if we extend our observations still farther to Canada
and the United States, we there find that the want of more
suitable materials for roofing, and the great quantities of fine
timber with which those countries abound, have induced the
inhabitants to cover their dwelling-houses with wood, cut into

14 Mr Stevenson on the Building Materials

thin pieces called " shingles," while the spires of the churches,
which rise from all the principal towns on the banks of the
St Lawrence, are covered with highly polished tin.

Another of the many illustrations that may be given, ap-
pears in the construction of roads — a most important branch
of engineering. The roads in this country are now invariably
Macadamized, as materials hard enough for forming them ad-
vantageously on that principle are very generally met with
throughout the length and breadth of the island. In France,
on the other hand, the want of hard materials renders Maca-
damizing not so applicable ; and consequently, it has not by
any means been generally introduced in that country, many
of the principal roads being still pitched or paved with large
stones. In Holland, owing to the scarcity of "Stones of every
description, most of the roads are paved with small well-
burned bricks, called " clinkers," which are set in sand, and
present an exceedingly smooth surface ; while in America and
Russia, we find long stretches of " corduroy road, " con-
structed entirely of timber — the produce of their extensive
forests, which forms a species of highway by no means so well
calculated as any of the others alluded to, for extending com-
munication or promoting the comfort of the traveller ; as the
painful experience of every one who has travelled on them
can abundantly testify.

The materials of every country may therefore be regarded
as a subject of great interest connected with its history, and
this consideration has induced me to offer a few remarks on
the materials employed in the construction of the public works
of the United States, in, the belief that they may not be un-
interesting to the members of a society which has for its ob-
ject the promotion of the useful arts.

Iron is pretty abundant in North America, and it is worked
in several parts of the United States. The only iron-works
which I had an opportunity of visiting in the course of a
late tour in that country, were those in the neighbourhood
of Pittsburg, on the river Ohio, which are said to be the
most extensive in America. At this place, the workmen
were engaged in the manufacture of pig-iron and plate-rails
for railroads. The use of plate-rails, howevei', has been very

of the United States of North America, 15

limited, and as no other description of rail has been manufac-
tured in the country, it has been the practice to import both
the rails and chairs for the greater part of the American rail-
roads from Britain, as well as the iron used for some other
purposes. The government of the United States, indeed, in
order to facilitate the progress of railways, do not exact the
duty on iron rails and chairs imported from this country. It
may safely be said, that the manufacture of iron in the United
States, and what is more closely connected with the subject
of this paper, its application to engineering works, are still in
their infancy, at least when we regard the great extent and
perfection to which these arts have been brought in Britain ;
and my observations on the materials of the country will
therefore be confined to those of masonry and carpentry, as
these are in some degree peculiar to the country, and any re-
marks regarding them will of course be more interesting.

Brick is the building material which is now invariably used
in the construction of dwelling-houses in the towns of the
United States. Timber is still pretty generally used for
houses in the country ; but of late years the erection of wooden
structures, from their liability to take fire, has been prohibited
in the neighbourhood of towns. Clay suitable for brick-
making is found in great quantities, which is a fortunate cir-
cumstance for the inhabitants ; and the bricks, which are
burned with wood, and manufactured in other respects like
those in this country, generally cost about 6 J dollars or 26s.
a thousand.

Experience in our own and in many other countries, has
proved that brick is well suited for house-building ; but expe-
rience has also shewn that it is by no means so well adapted
as stone for engineering operations generally ; and to some
works it is with us considered wholly inapplicable. Marble
and granite, of which I shall afterwards have occasion more
particularly to speak, occur in the northern parts of the United
States; but stone easily accessible to the quarrier, and fitted
for building purposes, is very rarely to be met with, and the
American engineers have therefore been obliged, as is the case
in all countries, to adapt the structure of the works, to the
materials they possess ; and in making this adaptation, they

IB Mr Stevenson on the Building Materials

appear to have violated many of the established rules of
engineering as practised in this country. The scarcity of
stone, and the unsuitableness of brick for hydraulic purposes,
for example, has forced them to construct most of the locks
and aqueducts on the lines of their great canals wholly of
timber, with which the country abounds ; and that material, ill
adapted as it may seem to such a purpose and situation, where
it is not only exposed to the constant tear and wear occasioned
by the lockage of vessels, but also to the destructive effects of
alternate immersion in water and exposure to the atmosphere,
has nevertheless been found in practice to form a very good
substitute for the more durable materials used for such works
in Europe.

The quarries of the United States, taking into consideration
the great extent of the country and the number of its public
works, are, as I have already hinted, few in number ; and,
generally speaking, the workings are on a small scale. They
afford granite and marble, and their produce is almost exclu-
sively applied to facing public buildings, forming stairs, win-
dow, and door lintels, and to other architectural purposes.

Granite is worked in the northern part of the country at
Quincey in the state of Massachusetts, and at Singsing in the
state of New York, and also in New Hampshire. The
Quincey granite is of a fine grey colour, and can be quarried
in large blocks. It has been used a good deal in Boston and
the neighbouring country for architectural works. It has also
been employed for railway-blocks on some of the lines of rail-
way in the neighbourhood of Boston, and in the construction
of the only two graving docks which exist in the United
States, the one at Boston, and the other at Norfolk in Virgi-
nia, the latter at a distance of upwards of 500 miles from the
quarries; and these, so far as I am aware, are the only
engineering works of any consequence in America in which
gi-anite has been employed.

The Singsing granite, which is of a dark grey or bluish
colour, is quarried on the banks of the Hudson, about twenty-
five miles from the town of New York, at which place it
has been pretty generally used for some time for stairs and
lintels, and has lately be«n introduced for facing buildings.

of the United States of North America. 17

The Astor hotel, the largest in America, and perhaps in tho
world, which is one of the very few stone-buildings in New
York, is built of this granite.

In the neighbourhood of Boston, and also Philadelphia, a
species of soap-stone is found, which is quarried to some ex-
tent, and used in situations exposed to high temperatures in-
stead of fire brick.

To the marble quarries, however, the Americans look for
their principal supply of materials. These are more numer-
ous, and are more widely distributed than the others I have
mentioned, although they also are confined to the northern
states. The principal marble quarries are in the states of
Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Vermont. I visited some
of them \^hen in the country, and had also the advantage of
receiving much information regarding them, as well as the
materials of the United States generally, from Mr Strickland,
architect at Philadelphia, and from Mr John Struthers, marble-
cutter, of the same place, to whom I am indebted for the
specimens of marbles and woods which I had the pleasure of
laying before the Society.*

The marble quarries in Pennsylvania are situate in the
valley of the river Schuylkill, and are from thirteen to twenty
miles distant from Philadelphia. They produce white, blue,
black, and variegated marbles. Limestone is found resting on
the marble, and is blasted off with gunpowder, and burned for
making mortar. In some of the quarries which I visited, the
beds of marble dipped from north to south at an inclination of
60° with the horizon, and they were worked at considerable
disadvantage. In one quarry the men were working a bed of
white marble 14 feet in thickness, at a depth of 120 feet
below the natural surface of the ground. The blocks, some
of which weighed 12 tons, were raised to the surface by
means of a rudely-constructed horse-gin, there being* no road
to the bottom of the quarry, or rather pit, from which they
are taken, by which even a man could conveniently, or safely,
descend or ascend, without the use of a rope to prevent his
billing headlong to the bottom. In this respect the American

* These specimens are now in the Museum of tho Society of Arts.
VOL. XXXI. NO. LXI. JULY 1841, B

Id Mr Stevenson on the Building Mate Hals

inarble quarries reminded me of the celebrated sandstone pits
of the ancient city of Caen in Normandy, which are not only
remarkable as having produced the materials for the old Lon-
don Bridge, but as presenting a mode of working very similar
to that pursued in the coal-pits of this country ; the blocks,
being excavated at a great depth under the ground, are
conveyed in subterranean passages to shafts, through which
they are raised to the surface by horse-power, as in the Ame-
rican quarries. The price of the American marble varies
according to its quality and kind. The carriage of the ma-
terials, owing to the badness of the roads, forms a very ex-
pensive item in all the public works, and is, of course, regu-
lated by the distance of transport; but the white marble costs
about 4s. lOd., and the blue about 4s. per cubic foot at the
quarries, and although this may seem a very moderate price
for marble, which in this country costs from 15s. to L.2 a
cubic foot, still, when used instead of stone throughout the
whole thickness of the wall of a dwelling-house, or the pier
of a bridge, it becomes, even at the lower price I have men-
tioned, a costly material.

The Massachusetts quarries, which are at a place called
Stockbridge, produce white and blue marbles, and the Ver-
mont quarries, which are near Lake Champlain, furnish black
and white marbles.

Those I have enumerated are the principal quarries in the
United States; but from the circumstances of their being
so much confined to particular localities, and the manner in
which they are worked, it is evident that their produce can-
not be applied by any means to the general wants of the
country ; and consequently, excepting in the case of buildings
on which a good deal of money is to be expended, it is but
little employed ; the cost of the material itself, and the ex-
pense of carriage, being very considerable.

The marbles of the United States, according to the account
of many intelligent Americans with whom J. conversed on the
subject, are not suited for sculpture or very fine ornamental
works, or even, indeed, for the capitals of columns, which
require superior work; and the marble used for the capi-
tals of all the fine buildings throughout the country is im-

of the United States of North America, 19

ported from Carara in Italy, whence a very large quantity is
annually exported to America. For similar purposes black
marble is also imported into the States from Ireland. If, how-
ever, I might form a judgment from the quality of some of
the specimens which I procured, I should think that were the
American'quarries efficiently worked, there could be very little
necessity for applying cither to Italy or Ireland for so great an
annual supply. Those buildings which are constructed of the
whitest description of American marble carefully selected for
the purpose, such as the Capitol and the President's house at
Washington, the Bank of the United States, the Mint, and
other public buildings at Philadelphia, and the monument
erected to the memory of Washington at Baltimore, have cer-
tainly a most imposing and gorgeous appearance, owing to
the fineness and beauty of the material. But the buildings
which are constructed of the blue or unsclected marble, such,
for example, as the State Capitol at Albany, or the Town-
House at New York, have a bloated and dingy look, and the
general eifect produced by the marbles in these buildings is
greatly inferior to that of some of the sandstones from Craig-
leith and other British quarries.

The white marble retains its purity of colour much longer
in the United States than it would do in this country, owing
to the clearness of the atmosphere and the absence of smoke,
the use of anthracite coal, which produces no smoke during
combustion, being common in most of the towns. These
circumstances may also account for the seemingly permanent
vividness of the various colours, such as red, white, brown,
yellow, and green, with which, according to the taste, or rather
want of taste, of the occupiers, the exteriors of the brick
houses in New York, and many other towns in the United
States, are generally painted.

I must now make haste to speak of the mf.terials of car-
pentry, the other department regarding which I proposed to
offer a few remarks.

The forests, to the British eye, are perhaps the most inte-
resting features in the United States, and to them the Ame-
ricans are indebted for the greater part of the materials of
which their public works are constructed. These forests aro

23 Mr Stevenson on the Building Materials

understood to have originally extended, with little exception,
from the sea-coast to the confines of the extensive prairies of
the western states ; but the effects of cultivation can now
be traced as far as the foot of the Alleghany Mountains, the
greater part of the land between them and the ocean having
been cleared and brought into cultivation. It is much to be
regretted that the early settlers, in clearing this country, were
not directed by a systematic plan of operations, so as to have
left some relics of the natural produce of the soil, which would
have sheltered the fields and enlivened the face of the coun-
try, while at the same time they might, by cultivation, have
been made to serve the more important object of promoting
the growth of timber. Large tracts of country, however,
which were formerly thickly covered with the finest timber,
are now almost without a single shrub, every thing having
fallen before the woodman's axe ; and in this indiscriminate
massacre there can be no doubt that many millions of noble
trees have been left to rot, or, what is scarcely to be less re-
gretted, have been consumed as firewood. This work of ge-
neral destruction is still going forward in the western states,
in which cultivation is gradually extending ; and the formation
of some laws regulating the clearing of land, and enforcing
an obligation on every settler to save a quantity of timber,
which might perhaps be made to bear a certain proportion to
every acre of land which is cleared, is a subject which I
should conceive to be not unworthy of the attention of the
American Government, and one which is intimately connected
with the future prosperity of the country. But should popu-
lation and cultivation continue to increase in the same ratio,
and the clearing of land be conducted in the same indiscrimi-
nate manner as hitherto, another hundred years may see the
United States a treeless country. The same remarks apply,
in some measure, to our own provinces of Upper and Lower
Canada, in many parts of which the clearing of the land has
shorn the country of its foliage, and nothing now remains but
blackened and weather-beaten trunks.

The progress of population and agriculture, however, has
not as yet been able entirely to change the natural appearance
of the country. Many large forests and much valuable timber

of the United States of North America, 21

still remain both in Canada and in the United States ; the
Alleghany Mountains, as well as other large tracts of country
towards the north and west, which are yet uninhabited, being
still covered with dense and unexplored forests.

The timber trade of the United States and of Canada, from
the quantity of wood which is required for home consumption
and exportation, is a source of employment and emolument
to a great mass of the population. It is carried on to a greater
or less extent on all American rivers, but the Mississippi and
the St Lawrence are more especially famous for it. The chief
raftsmen, under whose direction the timber expeditions on
these rivers are conducted, are generally persons of great in-
telligence, and often of considerable wealth. Sometimes these
men, for the purpose of obtaining wood, purchase a piece of
l^nd, which they sell after it has been cleared ; but more ge-
nerally they purchase only the timber from the proprietors of
the land on which it grows. The chief raftsman and his de-
tachment of workmen repair to the forest about the month of
November, and are occupied during the whole of the winter
months in felling trees, dressing them into logs, and dragging
them with teams of oxen on the hardened snow, with which the
country is then covered, to the nearest stream. They live
during this period in temporary wooden huts. About the
middle of May, when the ice leaves the rivers, the logs of
timber that have been prepared and hauled down during
winter, are launched into the stream, and being formed into
rafts, are floated to their destination. The rafts are furnished
with masts and sails, and are steered by means of long oars,
which project in front, as well as behind them : wooden houses
are built on them for the accommodation of the crews and
their families. I have several times, in the course of the trips
which I made on the St Lawrence, counted upwards of thirty
men working the steering oars of the large rafts on that river,
from which some idea may be formed of the number of their
inhabitants. Those rafts are brought down the American
rivers from distances varying from one hundred to twelve
hundred miles, and six months are often occupied in making
the passage. When it is at all possible, they moor them dur*-
ing the night in the still water ai th« edge of the riVer, but

22 Mr Stevenson on the Building Materials

when this cannot be done, they continue their perilous voyage
in the dark, exhibiting hghts at each corner of the raft to
warn vessels of their approach to them. The St Lawrence
rafts vary from 40,000 to 300,000 square feet, or from about
one to no less than seven acres in surface, and some of them
contain as much as L.5000 worth of timber. If not ma-
naged with great skill, these unwieldy specimens of naval
architecture are apt to go to pieces in descending the rapids,
and it not imfrequently happens that the labour of one, and
sometimes two seasons is in this way lost in a moment. An
old and experienced raftsman, with whom I had some conver-
sation on board of one of the St Lawrence steamers, informed
me that he, on one occasion, lost L.2500 by one raft which
grounded in descending a rapid and broke up. He said the
safest size for a raft was from 40,000 to 50,000 square feet, or
about one acre, and that five men were required to work a
raft of that size.

The species of forest trees indigenous to different countries
is an interesting subject connected with vegetable physiology.
There are said to be about thirty forest trees indigenous to
Great Britain, which attain the height of thirty feet ; and in
France there are about the same number. But according to
the best authorities, there are no less than 140 species which
attain a similar height indigenous to the United States.

To notice each of these numerous species, whose timber is
employed by the Americans in the arts, even if I were able to
do so, would greatly exceed the limits to which I am restricted
by the nature of the present communication, and I shall there-
fore only make a few remarks regarding those timbers which
are most highly prized and most extensively used in the ship
carpentry and public works of the country.

The first which I shall notice is the Live Oak {Quercm vivens)\
so named because it is an evergreen, its leaves lasting during
several years and being partially renewed every spring. It
grows only in the southern states, and is one of the most
valuable of the American timbers. The duty imposed by our
government on wood from the United States, prevents its im-
portation into Britain, and as live oak grows only in the
LTnited State*« and is not found in Canada, it consequently

of the United States of North Amer tea, Ht

never reaches this country as an article of commerce ; the
whole produce being consumed by the Americans themselves
in ship-building. Its specific gravity is equal to, and in some
cases greater than, that of water, and it is used along with
white oak and cedar for the principal timbers of vessels. The
climate, according to an American authority,* becomes mild
enough for its growth near Norfolk in Virginia, though at that
place it is less multiplied and less vigorous than in more
southerly latitudes. From Norfolk it spreads along the coast
for a distance of 1500 or 1800 miles, extending beyond the
mouths of the Mississippi. The sea air seems essential to its
existence, for it is rarely found in the forests upon the main-
land, and never more than fifteen or twenty miles from the
shore. It is most abundant, most fully developed, and of
the best quality, about the bays and creeks and on the nu-
merous fertile islands which lie scattered for several hundred
miles along the coast. The live oak is generally forty or fifty
feet in height, and from one to two feet in diameter, but it is
sometimes much larger, and its trunk is often undivided for
eighteen or twenty feet. There can be little doubt, from its
great density and durability, that this is one of the finest
species of oak that exists, surpassing even that for which
Great Britain is so famous. Its cultivation has been tried in
this country without success ; but could it be imported, it would
be found admirably suited for the construction of lock-gates
and other engineeringworks, for which hard and durable timber
is required, and for which English or African oak is gener-
ally used.

The White Oak (Quercus alba) is the species of which so
much is imported into this country. It is known by the name
of " American oak," but it is a very difi'erent and much in-
ferior wood to the live oak of the United States which I have
just described. It is also much more widely distributed, and
occurs in much greater quantity, than the live oak. It is
very common throughout the northern states and in Canada,
from whence it is exported to this country. It attains an
elevation of seventy or eighty feet, with a diameter of six or
seven feet. It is known by the whiteness of its bark, from

* The Sylva Americana, by J. D. Browne. Bostan, 1833,

24i Mr Stevenson on the Building Materials

which it derives its name, and from a few of its leaves remain-
ing on the branches in a withered state throughout the
winter. The wood is of a reddish colour, and in that respect
is very similar to English oak. But it is generally acknow-
ledged to be greatly inferior to it in strength and durability.
It is very straight in the fibre, however, and can be got in
pieces of great length and considerable scantling — properties
which, for certain purposes, make it preferable to the British
oak. It is much used in ship-building, and also for the trans-
verse sleepers of railways. There are many other oaks in the
United States, but the two I have mentioned are most in use.

The pines are perhaps the next woods in importance to the
oaks. The species of those are also very numerous, and I
shall only mention one or two of the most important of them.

The White, or Weymouth Pine {Pinus strobus), is widely
distributed both in the United States and in Canada, and
is exported to Britain in great quantities from the latter
country. It is the tallest tree of the American forest, having
been known, according to Michaux, to attain the height of
ISO feet. The wood has not much strength, but it is free from
knots, and is easily wrought. It is very extensively employed
in the erection of bridges, particularly /rrzwe and lattice bridges,
a construction peculiar to the United States, and very generally
adopted in that country, which I have described in detail else-
where.* For this purpose it is well fitted, on account of its
lightness and rigidity, and also because it is found to be less
apt to 7varp or cast on exposure to the atmosphere than most
other timbers of the country. It is much used for the interior
fittings of houses, and for the masts and spars of vessels.

The Yellow Pine (Pinus 7nitis or variabilis) occurs only in the
southern and middle states, and is not found in Canada, and
therefore does not reach this country, the wood known by
that name in Britain being the Finns rcsinosa. It attains
the height of 50 or 60 feet, with a diameter of 2 or 3 feet,
and is the timber which the Americans employ in great-
est quantity for the masts, yards, booms, and bowsprits of
their vessels. A large quantity of it is annually consumed for

* Stevenson's Sketch of the Civil Engineering of North America. Lon*
4on t J^hn Wealc, le'36i

of the United States of North America. 25

this purpose in the building-yards of New York, Philadelphia,
and Baltimore,

The Red Pine {Pinus resinosa) is the only other of the pine
species that is much used. It occurs in great plenty in the
northern and middle states, and in Canada, from whence it
is exported in great quantity to this country, and it is known
to us by the name of " American yellow pine." It attains
the height of 70 or 80 feet, with a diameter of two feet,
and is remarkable for the uniform size of its trunk for
two-thirds of its height. Its name is derived from the red-
ness of its bark. The wood, owing to the resinous matter it
contains, is heavy ; and is highly esteemed for naval architec-
ture, more especially for decks of vessels, both in this country
and in America.

The Locust {Bobinia pseud-acacid), from the beauty of its
foliage and the excellent qualities of its timber, is justly held in
great esteem in America. It abounds in the middle states, and
in some situations attains the height of seventy feet, with a dia-
meter of four feet. The wood of the iocust tree is of a greenish-
yellow colour, marked with brown veins, not unlike the laburnum
of this country. It is a close-grained, hard, and compact wood,
and is of great strength. It is used, along with live oak and
cedar, for the upper timbers of vessels, and is almost invaria-
bly used for treenails, to which it is well adapted. It is also
employed in some parts of the country as transverse sleepers
for railways. Its growth being chiefly confined to the United
States, it is not imported into Britain. It is one of the very
few trees that are planted by the Americans, and may be seen
forming hedge-rows in the highly cultivated parts of Pennsyl-
vania.

The Red Cedar {Juniperus Virginiand) is another valuable
wood, the growth of which is confined to the United
States. In situations where the soil is favourable it gi'ows
to the height of 40 or 50 feet, with a diameter of 12 or 13
inches. This wood is of a bright red colour ; it is odorous,
compact, fine-grained, and very light, and is used, as already
stated, in ship-building, along with live oak and locust to
compensate for their weight. It is considered one of the
most durable woods of the United States, and bein^f lesi

26 Mr Stevenson on the Building Materials

affected by heat or moisture than any other, it is much employed
for railway sleepers. I remember, in travelling on some of
the railways, to have been most pleasantly regaled for miles
together, with the aroma of the newly laid sleepers of this
wood. It is now, however, becoming too scarce and valuable
to be used for this purpose.

The White Cedar (Cupressus thyoides) and the Arbor
Vitae {Thuja occldentalis) are employed for sleepers and other
purposes to which the red cedar is applied, but the latter is
preferred when it can be obtained.

The only other tree which I shall notice is the Sugar Maple
{Acer sacchar ilium), which occurs in great abundance in
Canada and the northern states. It attains the height of
50 or 60 feet, and is from 12 to 18 inches in diameter.
The wood of this tree is soft, and when exposed to moist-
ure it soon decays. It is very close-grained, and when
cut in certain directions is remarkably beautiful, its fibres,
owing to their peculiar arrangement, producing a surface
variegated with undulations and spots. It is also suscep-
tible of a very high polish. These qualities tend to ren-
der it a valuable acquisition to the list of American woods
for ornamental purposes, for which it is very generally
employed, and is well known in this country by the name of
" Bird's Eye Maple." The wood of the Red-flowering Maple
{Acer Tubrurn) is also employed for ornamental purposes, and
is generally known by the name of " Curled Maple." The
cabins of almost all American-built vessels are lined with
these woods, or with mahogany inlaid with them, and they
are also much used for making the finer parts of the furniture
of houses.

The property of the sugar maple, however, from which it
derives its name, is of perhaps more importance in a commer-
cial point of view than its use as timber. I allude to its pro-
perty of distilling a rich sap, from which sugar is largely ma-
nufactured throughout the States. From two to four pounds
of sugar can be extracted annually from each tree without
hurting its growth. I had an opportunity of making some
inquiries regarding this simple process when on the banks of
the river Ohio, where I saw it in progress. One or two holes
are bored with an augut; at the height of about two feet from

cf the United States of North America* 27

the ground, and into them wooden tubes, formed of the branch
of some soft-hearted tree hollowed out, are inserted. The
sap oozing from the maple flows through the tubes, and is col-
lected in troughs. It is then boiled until a syinip is formed of
sufficient strength to become solid on cooling, when it is run
into moulds and is ready for use.

Such is a brief notice of some of the principal timbers of
the United States, which, from their great abundance and
variety, are suitable for almost every purpose connected with
the arts, and thus serve in some degree to compensate for the want
of stone, while at the same time they afford great advantages
for the prosecution of every branch of carpentry, an art which
has been brought to great perfection in that country. Many
ingenious constructions have been devised to render timber
applicable to all the purposes of civil architecture, and in no
branch of engineering is this more strikingly exemplified
than in bridge-building. Excepting a few small rubble arches
of inconsiderable span, there is not a stone-bridge in the
whole of the United States or Canada. But many wooden
bridges have been constructed. Several'of them, as is well
known, are upwards of a mile and a quarter in length, and
the celebrated Schuylkill Bridge at Philadelphia, which was
burnt about two years ago, but was in existence Avlien I visited
the country, consisted of a single timber-arch of no less than
320 feet span. Canal locks and aqueducts, weirs, quays,
breakwaters, and all manner of engineering works have there
been erected, in which wood is the material chiefly employed ;
so that if we characterize Scotland as a stone and England as
a brick country, we may, notwithstanding its granite and mar-
ble, safely characterize the United States as a country of
timber.

I shall only, in conclusion, very briefly allude to the appear-
ance of the American forests, of which so much has been
written and said, and on this subject I may remark, that it is
quite possible to travel a great distance without meeting with
a single tree of very large dimensions ; but the traveller, I
think, cannot fail very soon to discover that the average
size of the trees is far above what is to be met with in this
country. I measured many trees, varying from 15 to 20

28 On the Building Materials of the United States.

feet in circumference, and the largest which I had an oppor-
tunity of actually measuring was a Button- wood tree {Platanus
occidentalism on the banks of Lake Erie, which I found to be
twenty-one feet in circumference. I saw many trees, how-
ever, in travelling through the American forests, which evi-
dently far exceeded that size, and which my situation, as a
passenger in a public conveyance, prevented me from mea-
suring.

M. Michaux, who has written on the forest trees of America,
in speaking of their great size, states, that on a small island in
the Ohio, fifteen miles above the river Muskingum, there was
a button-wood tree, which, at five feet from the ground,
measured 40 feet 4 inches in circumference. He mentions
having met with a tree of the same species on the right bank
of the Ohio, thirty-six miles above Marietta, whose base
was swollen in an extraordinary manner ; at four feet from
the ground it measured 47 feet in circumference, giving a
diameter of no less than 15 feet 8 inches ; and another
of nearly as great dimensions is mentioned by him as ex-
isting in Genessee ; but these trees had perhaps been swollen
to this enormous size from the effects of some disease. He
also measured two trunks of white or Weymouth pine, on
the river Kennebec, in a healthy state, one of which was
154 feet long, and 54 inches in diameter, and the other was
142 feet long, and 44 inches in diameter, at three feet from
the gi'ound. M. Michaux also measured a white pine which
was 6 feet in diameter, and had reached probably the greatest
height attained by the species, its top being 180 feet from the
ground. It is difficult for an inhabitant of our island, with-
out having seen the American forests, to credit the statements
which have been made by various authors, as to the existence
of these gigantic trees of 180 feet in height (being about 40
feet higher than Melville's monument in St Andrew Square,
in Edinburgh) ; but such trees undoubtedly do exist. Mr
James Macnab of the Royal Botanic Garden, in a paper on
the local distribution of different species of trees in the native
forests of America,* mentions having measured numerous
specimens of the Tinus strobus in Canada, which averaged

** Agrituliural Journal for 183wi

Messrs Forbes and Goodsir 07t Pelonaia. 29

16 feet in circumference, and 160 feet in height ; and one spe-
cimen which had been blown down, and of which the top had
been broken off, measm-ed 88 feet in length, and even at this
height was 18 inches in diameter.

The ascent of the sap in trees is a subject which has long
occupied the attention of physiologists. Some difference of
opinion, however, exists regarding it, and hitherto it is be-
lieved no very definite conclusions have been arrived at ; — and
although not strictly connected with the subject of this paper,
I may be excused for remarking, that the quantity of sap re-
quired to sustain such enormous trees as these I have been
describing, and the source and nature of the power by which
a supply of fluid is raised and kept up, at the great height of
180 feet from the ground, are inquiries which, could they be
satisfactorily solved, would form most interesting and instruc-
tive additions to our knowledge regarding vegetable physiology.

On Pelonaia, a New Gelius ofTunicated Mollusks^ with Descrip-
tions of two Species. By Edward Forbes, Esq., and John
Goodsir, Esq., Members of the Wernerian Natural History
Society. Communicated by the Authors. With a Plate.*
Among the Ascidian Mollusca which we have collected
together, with a view to a complete investigation of the Bri-
tish Tunicata, are two remarkable animals, which appear to
represent a very natural genus as yet unrecorded. They dif-
fer from their allies in the tribe chiefly by their not being
fixed, and by their form, which reminds one more of that of
a Sipunculus than of an Ascidia ; indeed they may be re-
garded as analogues of certain Sipunculida?, and in that point
of view the details of their forms and structure are of much
interest to the naturalist.

They are both of a cylindrical shape, having their orifices
on the same plane, elevated on papillose eminences at one ex-
tremity of the body. No rays or t^ntacula surround either of
the orifices. The posterior extremity of each terminates in
a blunt point. They live buried in mud, quite unattached to
any other body, and are extremely apathetic animals, present-
ing scarcely any appearance of motion.

• Read before the Wernerian Natural History Society, April 17. 1841,

30 Messrs Forbes and Goodsir on Pelonaia.

We have styled the genus Pelonaia, {vviXog va/w), and define
it as follows : —

Test, cylindrical, unattached.

Orifices, without rays, or two equal approximated papillose
eminences at the anterior extremity.

Species 1. P. corrugata. Test, deep brown, much elongated,
rudely wrinkled transversely/.

In the mud-filled cavities of old shells from deep water —
Anstruther. It has also been taken by Dr Johnston at Ber-
wick.

Species 2. P. glabra. Test greenish-yellow, smooth, pilose,
not nearly so much elongated as the last.

Dredged in seven fathoms water, in mud, Rothesay Bay.

Anatomy of P. glabra.

1. Muscular System. — The mantle is similar to those of the
other Ascldiw, possessing longitudinal ,^nd circular fibres. A
strong band of transverse fibres passes round the mantle, im-
mediately below the anal orifice, encroaching on the cavity
principally on that side. The chief peculiarity of the mantle
is its firm adhesion to the test.

2. Digestive and Bespiratory Systems. — The respiratory
opening is of small size, and exhibits no folds or tentacular
fringes. The respiratory sac is elongated, cylindrical, con-
tracting rather suddenly towards one side to become continu-
ous with the oesophagus. On the external surface of the sac,
there are about thirty parallel transverse ridges, which give
it the appearance of a plaited frill. These plaits are less
apparent along the course of the branchial artery and branchial
vein, but midway between them on each side they are very
prominent, and are tied each by a minute cord to the inner
surface of the mantle. The internal surface of the sac exhi-
bits along one side the serpentine double cord which contains
the branchial vein ; along the other side the branchial artery;
and from these primary and secondary perpendicular branches
proceeding, as in the other Ascidiw. The transverse plaits
on the external surface of the sac correspond to the primary
or transverse branches of the vessels on the internal surface.
The animal was not examined when alive, but cilia without

Messrs Forbes and Goodsir on Pelonaia, 31

doubt exist in great abundance on the edges of the lozenge-
shaped spaces of the sac.

The oesophagus commences by a white plicated opening at
the lower end, and on one side of the sac. It is curved in a
sigmoidal form, and exhibits longitudinal rugae through its
coats. Near the lower end of the mantle cavity, it terminates
by suddenly dilating into the stomach, which is pear-shaped,
and directed obliquely upwards towards the side opposite to
the a^sophagus. The internal surface of the stomach presents
longitudinal plicse, and is succeeded by the intestine, which
at first curves upwards, then down to the bottom of the
mantle cavity, up along the oesophageal side of that cavity,
and between its walls and the branchial artery, terminating
about the anterior third of the animal in a funnel-shaped
anus, which is cut into ten or eleven processes like the petals
of a flower. The first part of the intestine is white and
longitudinally plicated \ the rectum is dilated with attenuated
coats.

3. Vascular system. The vascular system resembles that
of tlie true Ascidice, except that there is no heart. It consists
of two sets of vessels, with four sets of capillaries, a circle
in fact twice interrupted, once in the respiratory sac, and
again throughout the body. The branchial veins run. along
the. transverse plaits of the sac, receiving secondary and ter-
nary twigs at right angles. The primary branchial venous
branches empty themselves on each side into the branchial
venous trunk, which runs in the substance of the double cord
which coasts the superior aspect of the sac. This double cord
terminates in an abrupt manner anteriorly near the oral ori-
fice, and in a similar manner, but after becoming smaller, near
the orifice leading to the oesophagus. At this point the vein
becomes an artery, and probably sends back vessels to nourish
the sac. It now runs along the oesophagus, supplying the
stomach and intestine, and giving off* in its course branches
to the cloak. The veins arising from the arterial capillaries
of the body meet near the commencement of the oesophagus,
in one trunk, which passing along the inferior wall of the re-
spiratory sac, opposite to the branchial vein, performs the
function of a branchial artery.

32 Messrs Forbes and Gootlsir 07i Pelonaia,

It is interesting to observe here the differences between
the modes in which the branches enter the branchial vein,
and strike off from the branchial artery. In the former, just
before the branches enter the trunk, they give off a number
of vessels, which enter the trunk alongside of their parent
trunk — the combination forming a sort of delta : in the latter
they leave the trunk singly, and send off their branches in a
radiating direction. At a little distance from the trunks of
both artery and vein, the secondary branches become parallel
to one another, and perpendicular to their primary branches,
the more minute divisions following the same mode of rami-
fication.

Not having examined the animal when alive, we have no
information as to the nature of its blood.

4. Nervous system. — ^This system consists, as in other Ascl-
dice, of a ganglion situated in the substance of the mantle, be-
tween the oral and anal orifices. It is globular, and sends off
nervous twigs, 1. To the respiratory orifice of the mantle,
2. To the respiratory sac where it begins to exhibit the
transverse plaits, and 3. To the anal orifice of the mantle.

5. Generative system. — The generative organs consist of
two elongated tubes, closed at one end, open at the other,
and having a great number of close set parallel coeca, arranged '
at right angles, and opening into them along each side.
These tubes are attached to the internal surface of the man-
tle, their mouths free for a short distance, and prominent, the
rest of their extent and the attached coeca adherent. The
orifices of these organs are situate at the junction of the first
with the second quarter of the animal, and one-third of the
other end of each turns in towards its neighbour, and then
proceeds forward parallel to itself. The branchial vein runs
midway between the generative tubes, above, and the bran-
chial artery in a corresponding course below, so that the
threads of attachment of the plaits on the external surface of
the sac are fixed into the tubes, in a series on each side.

Anatomy of P. corruyata.

The structure of this species differs very little from that of
the P, glabra. The animal being elongated, the organs are

Messrs Forbes and Goodsir on Pelonaia. 33

placed more longitudinally. The respiratory sac is longer,
the stomach is longer, and is not placed so much across the
body. The oesophagus runs down to the bottom of the sac
before it terminates. The rectum is very long, and of con-
siderable width, but just before it terminates in the anus, it
becomes very much contracted. The mantle exhibits no
ridge or shelf below the anal orifice, but its longitudinal fibres
are very strong, and form a thick bundle at their origin round
the respiratory opening. The test, instead of being thin and
diaphanous like parchment, as in P. glabra, is thick, carti-
laginous in appearance, coloured brown, and transversely
wrinkled externally.

From the details of structure which we have now given, it
is evident that the Pelonaice are Ascidice, Their anatomy is
important, as it explains the nature of the parts and organs in
the Tunicata. They difix?r from the other Ascidice more parti-
cularly in being bilateral. The generative organs are sym-
metrical, and open one on each side of the anus, which is
directed towards the ventral surface of the animal, in a line with
the mouth and nervous ganglion. The latter is thus proved to
be an abdominal or sub-oesophageal ganglion, corresponding
to, or forming one of the chains of ganglia on the abdominal
surface of, the articulata. In the same manner the branchial
artery or heart is proved to be the pulsating dorsal vessel,
and the branchial vein, the abdominal vessel (when that ves-
sel exists) in the annulosa. It is interesting also to perceive
that, coexisting with this decided approach to the annular
type of form, we have the transverse plaits of the respiratory
sac corresponding to the rings of an articulated animal. . The
disappearance of a separate test is also a departure from the
plan of formation in the Ascidice, and an approach to other
types of form, and more particularly to the Cirro-grade Echi-
nodermata, with certain of which Pelonaia has at least an
analogical relation, in the water filled body, and in the ex-
ternal form.

Pelonaia, in fine, is one of those connecting genera so valu-
able as filling up gaps in the system, and supplying links in the

VOL. XXXI. NO. LXI. JULY 1841. C

34 Mr Sang on the Proper Porm

chain of structures, which runs through the series of organized
bodies.

EXPLANATION OF THE FIGURES (PLATE I).

Fig. 1. Pclonaia corrugata, a oral orifice of the test ; h anal orifice.

2. Pelouaia glabra, a oral orifice ; b anal orifice.

3. Anatomy of P. glabra, a, a bristle inserted into the respiratory

sac through the oral orifice ; b, a bristle inserted in the man-
tle cavity through the anal orifice of the test ; c ganglion with
the nerves proceeding from it;d the shelf or transverse ridge
in the interior of the test and mantle ; e branchial vein inclosed
in a serpentine band, as in some of the other Ascidice ; f
branchial artery ; g generative organ of the left side, with a
bristle inserted into its duct ; 7i the stomach ; i anus ; kk cut
edge of the test.

On the Proper Form for a Convertible Pendulum, By Edward
Sang, Esq. Actuary, Edinburgh, M.S. A. Communicated
by the Society of Arts for Scotland.*

The determination of the exact length of a second's pendu-
lum is a problem of great importance ; as it serves, on the one
hand, to exhibit the intensity of gravitation at different places
on the surface of the earth, and, on the other hand, to verify
or to restore standards of linear measure.

As any pendulum w^ith which we can operate is, of necessity,
compound, the computation of the length of a simple pendu-
lum must be founded on the dimensions of the various parts
of the pendulum actually used. The first attempts to deter-
mine tbe intensity of gravitation by this method, were accord-
ingly made by help of pendulums of as simple a structure as
possible, such as of a heavy sphere suspended by a slender
wire. But these attempts have given place to a method, ex-
ceedingly simple in itself and involving an elegant property
of oscillating bodies. The property is this, that if a second
knife edge be fixed upon a pendulum at a distance below the
first equal to the mean distance of oscillation, the motion on
the one-knife edge will be performed in the same time as on

* Bead before the Society of Arts for Scotland, 12th April 1841.

for a Convertible Pendulum, 35

the other. Hence, if we adjust a pendulum so as that its
oscillations on two opposed knife-edges be performed in equal
times, the distance between those edges will be the true length
of the corresponding simple pendulum.

It is my object in this paper, to shew how advantage may
best be taken of this beautiful proposition.

If the knife-edge of a pendulum be conceived to turn round
horizontally, without changing its distance from the centre of
gravity, the time of oscillation will change ; there being in the
general case, one direction in which the time of oscillation is
a maximum, and another exactly at right angles, in which it
is a minimum. Should it happen that the two axes of motion
are not accurately in the same vertical plane, the measurement
will, on this account, be erroneous, unless care have been
taken so to form the instrument as that its times of oscilla-
tion may be alike in all directions.

Referring all the parts of the pendulum to rectangular axes
passing through the centre of gravity, and putting z in the
vertical direction ; let I be the length of the simple pendu-
lum, X the distance of the axis of motion from the centre of
gravity, and & the inclination of that axis to x (supposed to be
an axis of greatest or least motion), then have we according
to the well-known laws of oscillation

(/- X) X . 2 w = 2 . w ,:;2 + sin ^- 2 . w a;2 + cos ^^ 2 . ^ ^^
so that the times of oscillation will be alike in all directions if
2 . w a;^ = 2 . w j/^.

Several years ago I drew the attention of the Society to
the importance of attending to this circumstance in construct-
ing the pendulums of clocks: the flat bobs in common use
exhibit the worst possible form for the load of a pendulum.

Supposing this condition attended to, the above equatioa
becomes

(/- X) X . 2 w = 2 . w ^2 4. 2 . w a;2 .
or if we put

2.wa;2 + 2.w5;2 = P.2w.
(/-X)X=P.

in which equation P is constant for the same mass of matter.

Although the proposition be quite true, that the point of
suspension and the centre of oscillation are interchangeubley

86 Mr Sang on the Proper Form

it does not follow that whenever we find two axes which give
the same time of oscillation, the distance between those axes
must, of necessity, be the mean distance of oscillation ; for on
each side of the centre of gravity there may be found two
axes of motion, giving exactly the same time of oscillation ;
those axes being symmetrically placed. That position of the
knife-edge necessary to give a certain oscillation, is found by
resolving a quadratic equation, and in all possible cases this
quadratic has two roots, thus exhibiting the two positions of
the knife-edge ; and again, by supposing gravity to act in the
opposite direction, that is, on inverting the pendulum, there
appear other two roots.

Now each solid has a maximum rapidity of oscillation, be-
yond which it is impossible to pass : when this, limit is just
about attained, the two roots of the quadratic equation ap-
proach each other and coalesce just at the limit, so that a con-
siderable change in the position of the fulcrum thereabouts
would produce a very small alteration on the rate of oscilla-
tion. It is quite clear, then, that experiments close to the
limit would be quite valueless in determining the length of
the simple pendulum. But quadratic functions have only one
state of maximum or of minimum ; and, in this case, since
there is a minimum degree of precision, there cannot be an
absolute maximum one. The limits offered by the mecha-
nical properties of matter are the only ones which give rise to
a best form. The general principle is this, that the farther
we can keep from the position of minimum exactitude, the
greater will be the precision attained to ; or, in other words,
we must seek for as great a disparity as possible between the
distances of the conjugate fulcrums from the centre of gravity
of the system.

To see clearly the nature of the question which now opens
to us, we may put it in this shape.

The mass of a pendulum being given, and the time of its
oscillation, it is required so to dispose of it as that the deter-
mination of the length, by means of two conjugate knife-edges,
may be the best possible.

For this purpose, it is quite clear that the quantity repre-

for a Convertible Pendulum, 37

sented by P must be a minimum, or since 2 w is given, that

2 , u z^ + 2 . w a;^
must be the least possible.

In order that the first condition of optimism may be at-
tained, the solid* may be regarded as one of revolution : put
then r for the radius of the solid at the position x, then ir r'
8.Z is the element of the mass, and

S ^ 7-2 a^; = M
is one of the conditions ; another condition is, that z be con-
tained between two limits zi and — z.,, and that z^ -{' z^ ^ I ;
while a third condition is, that

S T /•' 5^ + S = min.

Whatever may be the form which results from the above
conditions, there is still another consideration that may
completely overturn the result : that is, the compressibility
of the material of which the pendulum is to be made. Had
we perfect command of the density and strength of matter,
absolutely the best form would be to compress the whole
weight into a minute point suspended by a fine wire ; but
then this minute wire would be distended so as to vitiate the
admeasurement.

In the general use of the convertible pendulum, some of
the parts which are distended while it is in the one position,
are compressed when it is in the other, so that the compres-
sibility of the pendulum rod comes to interfere with the results.
The error arising from this source will be the less the stronger
the rod is made in comparison with the weight which it has to
sustain : and the error of distension will consequently be the
least when the whole weight is concentrated in the rod.

From this consideration, it would almost result that a con-
vertible pendulum may be best constructed of a simple cylin-
dric rod of a rigid and heavy metal ; the one-knife edge being
placed as near as possible to the one end, and the conjugate
knife-edge at about two-thirds of the length of the rod
distant.

When this form of the pendulum is used, the projection of
the knife-edges in one plane causes an inequality in the times
of oscillation in different directions, which must be removed
by making gratuitous projections at right angles to the edges,

38 Dr Black on some appearances connected with the

and by altering the weight of these, until, by trial with a tem-
porary knife-edge moving round on a collar, the required ad-
justment be attained.

Edinburgh, Feb. 8, 1841.

On some appearances inferred to have been connected with the
Antediluvian Congelation of the Interstitial Water of JRocks.
By J. Black, M.D., F.G.S., &;c. Communicated by the
Author.

The escarpments and vertical sections of many sedimentary
rocks present several appearances, the more general of which
are due to the divisions of the different mechanical and che-
mical deposits which are superimposed, one above the other,
and form the lines of stratification ; while some others are
occasioned by fissures which, more or less regularly, traverse
the different beds, perpendicularly to the plane of stratifica-
tion, or by the lines of cleavage, which affect either a rect-
angular or a diagonal direction across the plane of the several
beds. The prolonged fissures are very often extended through
the whole stratified beds, and vary from a simple rent to one
of several inches in width. In several instances, I have ob-
served them so complete and frequent in the sandstone beds
of our carboniferous deposits, that the rock has been split up
and divided, through the whole depth of the beds, into colum-
nar sections, which have stood out on the face of the quarried
rock in rough and irregular prismatic columns 30 to 50 feet
in height.

It is not easy, at all times, to account for the formation of
these rents and fissures. They have sometimes the appear-
ance as if they were the result of desiccation of the aqueous
deposit, similar to what is witnessed on beds of clay after a
long drought, or on subjecting balls of moist clay to the action
of the fire ; but in general they have more the appearance of
mechanical commotion. From their being generally observed
to be, if there is any difference in the width of the line of fis-
sure, wider towards the surface than deeper down in the
strata \ and from their occurring more conspicuously in ele-^

Antediluvian Congelation of the Water of Bocks, 50

vated rocks, which are in the neighbourhood of faults and
dislocations, there is a strong probability that they took place
contemporaneously with, or were occasioned by, the great
disturbances of the superficial strata. We may well conceive
that, when the different plateaux of the secondary or car-
boniferovis rocks were fractured and elevated by a more cen-
tral upheaving force, the tension of the incumbent strata
would first give way at the outer circumference ; and though
the force acting from beneath would principally expend itself
by the great lines of fracture and dislocation, yet a consider-
able amount of it would be distributed in dissolving the con-
tinuity of the sedimentary covering through the field sub-
mitted to its action.

Simple mechanical concussion would account for simple
rents radiating from the somxe of violent action ; and where
actual upheaving took place also, the rents would become
fissures or gaps of less or greater width, according to the ex-
tent of vertical or even lateral displacement. In the carbo-
niferous or mountain limestone, the fissures are often found of
much greater extent than they are ever observed in the rocks
of the coal-formation — they being often extended so as to
form deep chasms and caverns. However much many of these
extensive fissures and chasms may, in the opinion of some, be
owing to the excavating action of bicarbonated water on the
limestone rock, I think a great deal of their comparatively
larger width and extent may be attributed to the greater verti-
cal displacement which these strata underwent when they were
upheaved from the beds of the ancient ocean. For, the greater
the elevation by an eccentric protruding force and volume,
the greater would be the solution of the rock's continuity, and
consequently the rents and fissures would be wider and more
extended.

This explanation of these phenomena proceeds on the view
that all our displaced and disturbed strata have been elevated
above the level of their primitive line of stratification, which
appears to me to be most consonant with the historical and
actual condition of the relative levels of the land and the
ocean. But, if the great cataclysmal disturbances to which
we have alluded, have been of general siibsidence, the appt ar-

40 Dr Black on some appearances connected with the

ances which we have noticed of rents and fissures will per-
haps not be so easy of explanation. However well many of
the faults and dislocations may be reconciled with the theory
of general subsidence, yet it appears to me not so easy to
associate any general part of the appearances we have noticed
with this view of geological disturbance, except the simple
fractures and rents which are observed without any appreci-
able width. A collapse, instead of an opening asunder, might
naturally be expected to be the result of a subsiding or cen-
tripetal force ; though, if a refrigerating process were at the
time or subsequently taking place, the surface of such subsid-
ing strata might, in suffering a corresponding contraction, be
rent or fissured, in frequency and extent varying with the
mechanical circumstances and chemical nature .of the beds in
question.

The cleavage rents and interrupted lines of simple fracture
are generally considered to owe their determination to specific
arrangements within the rocky strata themselves — arising from
chemical or electrical affinities, or from what is more recently
termed molecular and polar arrangement. These lines, it is
well known, traverse the planes of stratification, difi:erently in
different rocks, but most in the same relative direction in the
same rocks. They at times cut the strata at right angles to
their planes ; at other times diagonally — forming, between
the lines of fracture or cleavage, either rectangular or rhom-
boidal sections. Professor Phillips has very industriously and
minutely examined these several lines of cleavage and other
fractures of disturbance, in his Geology of Yorkshire, so that
I shall not longer dwell on these preliminary matters, but pro-
ceed to claim a little attention to some other appearances
which are often to be observed in the same species and locali-
ties of rocks, as those which we have more particularly noticed
as being affected with lines of fracture, fissures, and disloca-
tions.

'J'he appearances to which I allude are confined to the super-
ficial or uppermost strata of the sandstones in the Lancashire
and Derbyshire coal-formation, and especially consist in the
thinly-stratified or slaty sandstones of beds, varying from one
foot to six, to eight feet or more in dc^pth, of a laminated lulud

Antediluvian Cone/elation of the JFater of Bocks, 41

in some places, while in others the beds approach to a more
close and regular lamination, though still disintegrated, and
in others the surface stratifications of the affected rock appear
only gentl}*^ separated or displaced. The upper fragments of
the talus are generally about four inches to one foot square,
lying at all angles, but mostly in the same parallelism of their
planes, and with more or less of fine mould or sand interspersed
and diffused among them. Many series of these fragments
present more or less of their apparently original lines of ver-
tical division, and their parallelism with each other, like the
several portions of a pack of cards when thrown on the table ;
while other sections of these pieces have been observed to
affect an oblique direction in short and interrupted series ; or
to be, as it were, slightly turned round on their vertical axes,
like a twisting, half round, of a few cards in the pack. How-
ever far disunited and removed many of these rocky fragments
may be, and especially in the upper layers, from their counter-
parts or similar pieces, I have never observed any of them,
except a few pieces on the surface of the beds, lying in a ver-
tical direction to the general plane, but all nearly in the same
parallelism, whatever their amount, size, or dispersion may
be. On first inspection, these seeming taluses may be sup-
posed to be owing to the transportation of disintegrated rocks,
from neighbouring or more distant strata, which may have
been deposited in certain localities by eddies or currents of
diluvial water ; but on a nearer examination, they are found
to have the same character as the subjacent rocks, and, indeed,
they are part and parcel of them in a fractured and separated
state. The identical character of the rock can, in most in-
stances, be traced from the solid bed up through several piles
of the shattered pieces above — clearly proving that the frag-
mentary beds have been derived from the rocks in situ. These
beds are more particularly observed on the inclined surfaces,
or in the hollow parts of the sandstone strata; while on the
crests or shoulders of the rocks they are thin, or rare, or en-
tirely awanting — the diluvium or soil, in these instances,
resting in contact with the otherwise bare and compact rock.
These fragmentary beds are sometimes covered with a great
depth of diluvial deposits, amounting to ten fe«t or more^ even

42 Dr Black on some appearances connected with the

on elevated grounds ; but in other instances I have observed
them to lie immediately under a thin soil and the green sward
— evidently shewing, in the majority of cases, that the causes
which gave rise to their disintegration and arrangement ex-
isted before the period of the great diluvial deposits, which,
on their part, give much and strong evidence of a great por-
tion of their materials, both rocky and sedimentous, having
been transported from distances more or less remote. When
the beds under our notice have reposed on the surfaces of tlie
mother rocks, which were much inclined, I have observed the
laminated fragments to assume a greater horizontality than
the subjacent surface of the compact rock ; which affords some
evidence that the individual fragments had at one time some
liberty of motion, which allowed them to yield a little to the
laws of gravity ; though I must say this characteristic has never
been observed to be very distinct. (Fide the Sections, Plate II.
Figs 1 and 2.)

- Such being some of the more common features of these
fragmentary beds, the next object is to investigate the cause
and mode of their formation. I must say, that I at first in-
curiously took these beds to be the rough fragmentary de-
tritus of neighbouring rocks accumulated in their respective
situations by the strong currents of some primeval liood ; but
on further consideration, the general parallelism of the frag-
ments as they lay in the beds rather militated against this sup-
position ; for, if they had been drifted from any moderate dis-
tance, they would have been deposited in all directions, verti-
cally, inclined, and horizontally. To confute still further the
idea, that they were transported by aqueous violence from any
distance, the fragments, on a more close examination, were
found, however separated and turned round on their vertical
axes, to be of the same nature and character with the rocks
immediately subjacent. The uppermost layers might shew, in
some beds, considerable displacement and disturbance, but the
mineralogical similarity, if not identity, of texture could at all
times be satisfactorily traced to the parent or solid rock beneath.
It was also easy to perceive that these disintegrated beds
were in no probable manner occasioned by the general and
deep convulsions which had fractured and disturbed tlio sub-

Antediluvian Congelation of the Water of Bocks, 43

jacent strata themselves, to which circumstance allusion has
been made in the beginning of the paper ; but their disposition
was almost wholly owing to some agencies acting on the sur-
faces of the stratified f6cks. From the perfect identity of mi-
neralogical and mechanical character between the fragmentary
beds and the entire rocks beneath, there is every reason'^to in-
fer that they once constituted the compact and continuous
members of stratification in their several localities ; and to
place the disunited pieces or fragments in their present con-
dition,- it appears that they had undergone two consecutive
operations. The first was the loosening and separating the
affected laminations from each other, according to the lines of
the original stratification of the sedimentous deposit, as well
as a fracturing up of the planes of stratification in fragments,
of more or less regularity of form, but generally assuming the
rectangular or rhomboidal. The second operation seemed to
be a shifting or commotion of these fractured planes, hither
and thither, over the surface of the parent rock ; while some
vertical series of these fragments seemed to be tilted or a little
inclined to the general plane of the bed, or were merely twisted
a few degrees round on the axis of their original situation.

These appeared to be the two principal operations to which
these fragmentary beds seemed to have been subjected pre-
vious to their having been covered up by the diluvial deposits.
It now remains to consider by what agents these respective
effects have been occasioned. The only two natural agents
that could probably have acted on the surfaces of these rocks,
in the first instance, if they had been exposed to the same at-
mospherical circumstances, as exist in modern times, were
what is called weathering and the agency of frost. Now, as to
weathering, we can only judge of its effects from what we now
witness ; and though it obviously has the power of disintegrat-
ing, abrading, and pulverizing the exposed surfaces, and even
peeling off the thin laminae of some rocks, yet I cannot con-
ceive, for I have not witnessed, effects from it, sufficiently
powerful and penetrating, as to loosen and dissever the la-
minated strata of rocks to such a depth as is observed in many
of the rocks under our notice. Weathering, without frost,
would simply decompose and pulverize the surface and pre-

44 Dr Black on some appearances connected with the

pare its disintegrated remains for supporting vegetation, but
I cannot think it could carry its disintegrating power to such
depths iii the solid stratified rocks, as observed in many of
these instances. It must also be remarked, that the surfaces
of these sandstones had, very probably, undergone more than
one geological catastrophe, or movement of abrasion, before
the diluvial one which now covers them with its remains from
the atmosphere ; for the new red sandstone was deposited sub-
sequently to the fractured elevation of these rocks, and was
most likely formed, in a considerable part, from the detritus
of these earlier secondary rocks. I have, therefore, been led
to attribute to the other external agent, namely, glacial conge-
lation^ the effects now under consideration. When we look
upon the common effects of frost upon porouls stones of a stra-
tified structure, or more particularly, if we observe the mode
in which the quarrymen prepare our coarse roofing sandstone
slates, we shall have little difficulty in understanding how the
first of the above operations took place. As water that has
percolated through rocks, or insinuated itself between the na-
tural layers of stones, expands so much on freezing, as to ex-
ert a force sufficient to dissolve their continuity, the quarry-
men avail themselves of this power by placing, during winter,
the entire laminated block from the delf on its edge, by which
the seams are better subjected to infiltration from the rain ;
and so, from repeated freezings and thawings, they are, by the
spring of the year, easily rent asunder into lamince of the na-
tural thickness which suits the purposes of slating in many
parts of the country.

Infiltration, then, of surface-water and its consequent con-
gelation between the laminated strata of the rock appear to
have been the first agent in the work of breaking up and frac-
turing the superficial beds ; and, from the depth to which this
operation has in some places penetrated, it would appear that
the intensity of the congelating force had been considerable
for a short time, or else it had long continued in a more mor
derate degree, and most likely had been intermitted with
irregular or periodical thaws and fresh infiltrations. We have
next to account for the second part of the process, namely,
the mode in which the loosened and dissevered fragments were

Antediluvian Congelation of the Water o/Bocke, 46

moved out of their native beds and connections. To aid, if
not completely to satisfy our enquiry on this point, we have
recourse to the agency of water moving and eddying over the
disintegrated strata, and that in a body of considerable depth,
agitated most probably by strong undulations and varying
currents. The superficial beds of the laminated sandstone
rocks, loosened and fractured by the previous congelations and
thawings of infiltrated water, would, more or less readily, yield
to the force of any body of water afterwards moving over
them. The more superficial disrupted laminations would obey
the more easily the force and direction of the aqueous cur-
rents, would suffer the greater locomotion or transportation,
and would be more intermixed with any sand or soft detritus
which the waters were carrying along with them ; while the
deeper placed fragments would sufi^er less commotion and in-
termixture, in proportion as they lay nearer to the compact or
mother rock. These are the very characteristic features which
the several parts of the fragmentary beds now exhibit. The
rush of such sedimentous and muddy waters over the crests or
brows of the elevated rocks in question, would also have the
effect of sweeping the disintegrated beds off the elevated parts
of the compact rock, and of depositing the fragments on its
inclined or more sheltered sides. The hydraulic force, being
of a certain amount, but not turbulent, would simply move the
fragments on their planes to distances more or less limited,
but still confined to the immediate precincts of the parent rock ;
while slight changes in the direction of the moving current
would force some small series of the fragments into greatly
inclined positions, or twist others, lying in a vertical series,
more or less round on their perpendicular axes. I need not
again remark, how much several of the appearances of these
fragmentary beds are found to correspond with this natural
effect of a deep aqueous current moving over the surface of
materials, so prepared by previous congelation and thawing to
undergo what is now witnessed.

That such a current or deluge of sedimentous waters once
moved over the surface of these rocks, and also over the neigh-
bouring countries with a varying velocity, direction, and depth,
is, moreover, very obvious from the many superficial deposits

46 Dr Black on some appearances connected with the

of sand and gravel, containing pebbles and rounded fragments
of rocks from very distant localities, and which sometimes
affect a stratified deposition, but more generally an irregular
precipitation or subsidence of the same materials. To shew,
moreover, the nature of the different forces and of the physi-
cal circumstances then in action, it is to be remarked, that
while the fragments in the laminated talus are sharp and an-
gular, and evidently the disintegrated portions of the subja-
cent rocks, the deposited pebbles and small boulders in the
incumbent bed, commonly termed the diluvium, are composed
of rounded fragments from the surrounding geological forma-
tion, interspersed very frequently with rolled fragments of
transition or more primary rocks, which in many cases must
have been transported from a great distance*.

However important and interesting the subject of these di-
luvial deposits may be, I only at present notice them with
the view of shewing their association with the beds of lami-
nated fragments — the subject of the paper, and of placing the
era of their deposition next in order, if not very near in time,
to the changes that have been effected upon the rocks in ques-
tion by previous congelation.

From the foregoing exposition of the views which I in-
tended to submit, I hope I have succeeded in shewing, that the
disintegration and splitting up of the superficial beds of the
laminated rocks into loose and angular fragments were, by
every physical deduction, owing to the congelation of infil-
trated water through the pores and laminations of the affected
rocks ,- and that the present disposition of these disintegrated
fragments has been caused by the subsequent action of deep
currents of water of varying velocity and direction, and hold-
ing in suspension varying quantities of mud, sand, and gravel,
with occasional boulders.

It may be thought that too much time and unnecessary lo-
gical deduction have been expended upon what appears so ob-
vious, but it has been expedient to proceed, in this instance,
with the argument strictly limited to the data before us, and
as if the science of geology had not formally existed ; for if
these data and appearances in nature could have been ex-
plained in any other manner, equally satisfactory, I would as

Antediluvian Congelation of the Water of Pocks. 47

readily have adopted it. It is especially necessary at this time
of geological research, that we should apply ourselves, as much
as possible, to independent enquiries and conclusions, and not
yield our minds to hasty generalizations, which are often as
captivating to the young geologist, as they injuriously serve
to relieve his mind from the labour and industry of individual
investigation.

I need not remark that the glacier theory has of late burst
upon us like an avalanclte ; and in the powerful hands of
Agassiz and his able coadjutors in this country, is threatening
to sweep before it many of our preconceived notions of the
formation of our superficial deposits. It therefore behoves every
sincere and inexperienced geologist to be cautious in his con-
clusions, but industrious in collecting his facts, and basing his
arguments, as much as possible, on independent observations.
As for the detached and subordinate observations and argu-
ments which I have taken this opportunity of laying before the
public, I can only say they are not new to myself ; and as far
as the great principles of geological truth are concerned, I
shall be satisfied if they add one unpolished pedestal to any
of the lofty columns that are now being erected in the glacial
temple of the science.

In what has been hitherto advanced in this paper, w^e have
confined ourselves, as strictly as possible, to observed facts and
arguments plainly deduced, without at all entering upon the
wider and more profound field of collateral investigation,
namely, under whatphysical circumstances ofthe earth's surface,
and at what geological era, this congelation of the superficial
rocks took place. This greater question is one which involves
a good deal of theoretical reasoning, as well as invites to much
hypothetical speculation. So far as we may approach one
branch of this ulterior subject, we may safely identify the pe-
riod of these local diluvial deposits, and the present configura-
tion of these fragmentary beds with that of the very general
diluvium which is remarked to have taken place over so many
countries, both in Europe and America. But the period at
which the refrigeration took place, and whether it soon fol-
lowed the period of cataclysm al fracture, dislocation, and ele-

48 Dr Black on some appearances connected with the

vation of these rocks, or more nearly preceded the diluvial
catastrophe, are questions not so easily determined.

That a considerable refrigeration of the eartlfs surface in
these temperate latitudes took place after the deposit of the
carboniferous beds, there is every reason to infer from the
very diminished quantity of vegetable remains which are
formed in the succeeding strata of the new red sandstone and
lias, in which few types of the genera of the flora of the coal-
formation, and especially those of the more tropical character,
have been discovered. This great diminution or extinction of
these primeval plants, between the eras of the several deposits,
leads us to some great physical cause, such as a change of tem-
perature and climate, to account for this revolution in the ve-
getable world.

That this climatorial temperature was, however, at one time
so far reduced, as not only to destroy the then existing race of
plants, but also to congeal the moist surface of the earth with a
crust of ice, is what we have no reasonable data for to advance.
If such had been the case in any remarkable degree, there
would very probably have been some evidence of this extent of
refrigeration having been discovered in some fragmentary and
shattered strata lying between the upper or superficial beds of
the carboniferous rocks, and the lower beds of the new red
sandstone deposit, but I am not aware that such enclosed re-
cords of congelation have been any where discovered. In
the absence of this evidence, we may venture to conclude,
that the refrigerating era of which we are in search, occurred
only while those portions of the laminated sandstones which
lie in elevated beds or outcrops remained exposed to the atmo-
sphere during the long periods of the many succeeding forma-
tions ; and consequently, this era was not only subsequent to,
but took place at some very remote period after the great
plateaux of our carboniferous rocks had been fractured and ob-
liquely elevated to the surface. In bringing down the period
of the congelation connected with our subject to a more re-
cent geological era, we are naturally led to enquire if there
are any appearances or fossil records in the more recent strata,
or on the surface of the earth, affording any corroboration of a

Antediluvian Congelation of the Water of Bocks, 49

congelation, general or contemporary with the phenomena to
which we have directed attention.

It is true, that the several gVoups of rocks down to the su-
percretaceous deposits, all exhibit successive evidences to the
modern botanist and zoologist of a decreasing temperature of
the earth's surface having, as it were, intermittently taken
place during a long course of ages ; but it seems difficult to
discover any records of a long or violent depression of tempe-
rature, equal to what we have presumed to have occasioned
the phenomena of the rocks under our notice. In order,
therefore, to fix upon some well-defined characters of climato-
rial refrigeration, the effects of which we can appreciate, we are
brought down to the period when the Elephas lyrimogenius^
the Mastodon, and the Bhinoceros, with other mammalia, the
presumed inhabitants of warm or tropical climates, were de-
stroyed and buried up in the superficial gravels and clays of
Europe and America; not to omit the more corroborative
proof of a great and sudden congelation of the surface of the
ground, which the elephants encased in ice at the embouchure
of the river Lena and the neighbouring coast afford. Though
the woolly hair found on the bodies of these animals, may
have adapted them to live in a temperate climate, yet such a
country, as where their remains now are found, could not have
afforded them food ; and from all the circumstances of the
case, there is every reason to infer, that a sudden and great
reduction of temperature took place during their lives, and
arrested these animals, along with many others, on the wild
fields of their pasture, they being probably afterwards sub-
jected to some diluvial transportation. In the present state
of our knowledge, this is the only period which we can asso-
ciate in point of time, if contemporaneity is necessary with that
in which the congelation of the rocks of which we have treated
took place. That it was also connected and followed by great
physical revolutions over the surface of the earth, sufficient
almost to countenance the idea ofne7v heavens and a neiv earth,
is what we may safely aver from the phenomena of marked dis-
integration, displacement, and transportation of rocks and
boulders, and the immense beds and deposits of rocky detritus

VOL. XXXI. NO. LXI. JULY 1841. D

50 . Dr Scoresby on the Colours of (he Dew-Drop,

clay, sand, and gravel, that are visible over almost the whole
surface of the globe.

In conclusion, if the few facts and observations stated in the
foregoing paper be more generally corroborated by other ob-
servers, and their deductions be added to my own, we may
feel satisfied that we have new and independent data, apart
from all glacial phenomena, to support the doctrine of a gene -
ral congelation having obtained over a great part of the sur-
face of the earth in these latitudes.

By what means, meteoric or mundane, this general refrige-
ration was occasioned, is quite a subject of conjecture.
Whether it arose from a greater distribution of land towards
the north pole, or from a greater inclination of the polar axis
of the earth in relation to the plane of the ecliptic, or whether
from a temporary greater eccentricity of the earth's orbit, or
from any other equally conjectural cause, it is quite futile to
speculate upon. The simple facts and arguments deduced on
the more precise subject of the fragmentary beds of the superfi-
cial sandstone rocks, andexplanatory of their present nature and
configuration, formed my sole reason for craving alittle attention
to a subject which I hope will receive some share of considera-
tion from geologists, whenever any opportunities occur of ob-
serving similar appearances, so that as much light as possible
may be thrown on the formation and chronology of our super-
ficial deposits.

Explanation of sections of sandstone-rocks, their fragmentary beds,
and incumbent diluvium. Plate II. figs. 1 and 2.

A the soil ; B diluvium with sand and boulders ; C the disintegrated
beds; D compact rock;

Manchester, 2d Apnl 1841.

07t the Colours of the Bew-Drop^ with a simple Method of ob-
serving them. By the Rev. W. Scoresby, D.D., F.R.SS.
of Lond. & Edln., Corresponding Member of the Institute
of France, &c. &c. Communicated by the Author.

In preparing a paper for the Philosophical Society of Brad-
ford, on the Phenomena of the Rain-Drop and Dew- Drop, as
exhibited in the range of physical sciences connected with

P L A T ?: II. EdinZ]^ewPha. Jour Vol. 31. p. 30.

Fi^. 6.

Shadow or the Observer on t/ie^ Crroiuid. wUh the> back to th^ Stuv.

Dr Scoresby on the Colours of the DeW'Drop, 61

these aqueous atmospheric deposits, I w^s led to consider the
reason why the Dew-Drop, so striking in its exhibition of re-
splendent light and colours, as ofttimes to have called upon
the province of poetry to describe its beauties, should so sel-
dom present the same richness and variety of tints as are seen
in the rainbow ? An attentive observation of the multitudes
of diamond-like gems pendant on the grass and sparkling in
the morning sunbeam, soon enabled me to discover a not un-
frequent coloured drop of yellow or orange ; but in vain, du-
ring many favourable mornings, I sought for blue, green, or
red. At length it occurred to me that the distance at which
many of the most resplendent drops were seen, might render
the effect of the colours inappreciable. Availing myself of a
14-inch pocket telescope for the determination of the fact, I
immediately found that the drop tinged with yellow or orange,
as seen by the naked eye, now assumed, according to the po-
sition in which it was viewed, the principal variety of the ex-
quisite tints of the iris.

A little practice in investigating this interesting pheno-
menon, enabled me (on ani/ occasion of either dew or rain
drops being pendant on the grass or shrubs when the sun was
tolerably clear) to fix the telescope at once on some of the
most fitting globules for exhibiting the colours, and to deve-
lope, by a slight motion of the head, whilst viewing a parti-
cular globule, the principal tints of the spectrum.

For the purpose of observation of this beautiful effect of
the solar beams, a telescope is necessary which can be ad-
justed to a very short focal distance, so that, by being drawn
out beyond the usual focus, objects at the distance of only
three or four yards may become distinctly visible. With such
an instrument coloured dew-drops may be seen in a great va-
riety of positions with respect to the sun. For instance, at
the angular distances from the sun of about 40°, 45°, 73°, &c.
(as measured by the sextant), as also at a variety of angles
from the shadow of the head of the observer, from about 5^*
to the extent of 60° or upwards. The angular position of the
coloured drops, with reference to the sun, indeed, I could not
find to be reducible to any given law, from the circumstance,
most probably, of the various deviations in the drops themselves
fram a true spherical figure. Yet there were obviously /wir-

52 Dr Scoresby on the Colours of the Dew-Drop,

ticular positions in wliich the largest number of the resplen-
dent drops were always to be seen.

The simplest way of finding the fitting globules for examin-
ation, is to turn the back to the sun and take the shadow of
the observer's head on the ground as the guide. Within a
few inches of the shadow of the head, most brilliant drops re-
flecting like the diamond, will be seen, and sometimes exhibiting
colours. But within, perhaps, a yard or two of the shadow
(at an angular distance of 10" or 12°), if the sun have con-
siderable altitude, globules of a most gorgeous character may
not unfrequently be observed ; whilst others, at greater dis-
tances, will present, by a slight motion of the head, almost
all the phenomena in succession of the solar arch. If the
globule be to the right of the observer (the back being to the
sun) and any colour be seen, let the head be inclined to the
right until white light alone is reflected. Then slowly re-
turning the head towards the left, a succession of colours will
be seen, differing, however, in their order according to the
number of reflections and refractions. When at a large an-
gular distance (such as nearly half a right angle from the
shadow of the head of the observer), the series I have com-
monly observed is bluish, like the sapphire ; pale blue ; bril-
liant W5/«7d?, like the diamond; straw-colour; pink; orange;
orange approaching to red. At this angular distance (40° to
60°), I have generally found the nearer drops to the eye
(such as those within 5 to 10 yards) exhibiting scarcely more
than three different or distinct colours ; but the remote drops
(such as those at 15 to 20 yards' distance), the variety just
described, might commonly be seen.

In the globules, however, at small angular distances, al-
ready referred to, I have observed the reverse order of co-
lours. On the 1st of May of the present year, at eight in the
morning, the sun .being very bright, and the globules of dew
numerous and large, one globule was observed at the distance
of about a yard from the shadow of my head of singular beauty
and splendour. Its brilliancy when reflecting only white light,
outvied, if possible, that of the diamond ; and the tints whi(!h
successively appeared on examining it with the small tele-
scope, under a shght change of position, were singularly rich,
and indeed gorgeous^ The globule was a little to the right

Dr Scoresb'y on the Colours of the Bew-Drop. 53

hand of the shadow of my head, and when examined, as above
recommended, from rlfjht to left^ the succession of colours wss
as follows — ^faint purple^ pink, red, orange, yellow, green,
bluish-white, resembling in lustre and fire the diamond. The
order here, omitting the two first tints, was that of the pri-
mary rainbow »

Various attempts were made to determine whether there
were any particular angles at which the development of co-
lours was resoluble, but, as I have said, without being able to
reduce the phenomena to any given law. Measured from the
centre of the shadow of the head of the observer, towards the
right, for example, when the sun had considerable altitude
(such as 40° or 50°), 1 found a very large number of beautifully
prismatic drops, pendant on blades of grass, at different unequal
angular distances of from 5^° to 28° or 30°. Various angles
being measured by a pocket sextant, where the orange tint
appeared, gave, in numerous examinations of different dew-
drops, 51°, 12i°, 12^, ISr, several of 22^°, 28°, 34°, &c. In
all these cases the distance of the drop from the eye never ex-
ceeded 10 feet ; varying from 7 to 10 feet. The order of the
colours in these several cases (with but one exception that I
recollect) corresponded with that of the primary rainbow ;
but in many cases the only distinct colours were orange, yel-
low, and bluish-white. At an angle of 63°, on the same oc-
casion, a prismatic drop was examined, exhibiting the reverse
order, and thus indicating a double reflection. On examining
the drops closely, with a compound botanical microscope, I
found, as might have been anticipated, a great difference in
their relative positions and forms. Most of them w^ere pen-
dant on blades of grass, but the globules in many cases de-
viated considerably from the spherical form, — some being too
weighty for the attraction of cohesion, so that they assumed
an ovoidal form, and others being of so deficient a weight as
to appear, not as pendant ovoids but as semi-ovoids suspended
from the longer axis. For in all cases the part attached to
the blade of grass was necessarily flattened. Figures 3, 4, 5,
Plate II., shew some of the forms examined, whose colour and
angular distances have already been described.

The order of the colours and the position of the ob-
server will be made more intelligible by reference to figure 6,

54 Dr Scoresby on the Colours of the' Dew-Drop,

where the outline figure represents the shadow of the ob-
server, and the small circular marks in the imaginary con-
centric bands around the head of the figure, represent the po-
sitions of the drops which were observed — the width of the
bands being designed to indicate the limits through the an-
gular dimensions across which, in the direction of the dotted
line drawfi from the eye of the figure, the different colours of
the spectrum successively appeared.

As observed by direct examination in the usual way of vi-
sion without any telescope, colours could rarely be seen ex-
cept the orange, and that not very distinctly. It occurred to
me that the parallax occasioned by the distance of the eyes,
might actually bring a different tint to each eye, and so con-
fuse or mix up two tints. And this I found to be so far the
fact, in observing the nearer drops of dew, that when ex-
amined with one eye, unassisted by the telescope, more dis-
tinct tints were seen, especially in looking through a tube or
through a small hole in any interposed substance. Reflected
obliquely from a plane mirror, however, with one eye placed
near the reflecting surface, the spectrum became much more
obvious and capable of analysis into different distinct tints.

I have been thus particular in describing the results of these
investigations, because they may afford a new source of inte-
resting observation by those of a scientific turn of mind — and
the opening to observation of a beautiful class of phenomena,
especially to persons dwelling in the country, on any morning
when the sun shines upon the dew bespangled herbage. And
trifling as to the mass of the busy world such investigations
may seem — to the spiritually enlightened mind, and to the true
admirer of nature, the scriptural truth will, in this case, be
abundantly manifest — >" The works of the Lord are great"
(and beautiful), " sought out of all them that have pleasure
therein." (Psalm cxi. 2.)

It is scarcely necessary to say that the phenomena herein
described, may be likewise observed on the pendant aqueous
drops otherwise deposited than by dew. In certain respects
the drops from a shower of rain — from fog — or even from a
copious shower of the watering-pot — will afford the fitting
forms for interesting optical effects; but still the greater

Dr Scoresby on the Colours of the Dew-Drop, 55

S2)hericity of the dew-drops, and their more distinct separate-
ness, give this peculiar form a decided advantage. Similar
effects of colour also maybe seen during sunshine in any
globular vessel filled with water. In ver^ small globules of
glass, so filled, the phenomena more nearly approximate those
of the dew-drop, as the size of ordinary glass-vessels causes the
colour to be seen only at the extreme verge of the globe*
with a combination of tints, whilst in the small dew-drop the
different tints become generally resolved, -as to any discrimi-
nating power in the eye, into an uniform colour, varying only
by a change of the angle at which it is observed in respect to the
position of the sun. In all cases, however, in which these
phenomena are observed, the small telescope becomes a most
important acquisition, by removing the indistinctness and du-
biousness which necessarily belong to colour when the angle
subtended by the luminous coloured object is very minute.

Whilst the departure from the true spherical form occasions,
in the colour of the dew-drop, such uncertainty as to the
angle at which the spectral phenomenon may appear ; the
regularity of the form of the rain-drop whilst descending
through the air, and the free and perfect operation of the
attraction of cohesion, yield obviously the fitting optical con-
ditions for the correspondency in the angular position, with
respect to the sun, of the rainbow. There should, however,
be, according to theory, a minute deviation from the true
spherical form in the descending rain-drops, arising from the
resistance of the air ; and that deviation ought to be different
in degree according to the magnitude of the rain-drops. For
as drops of unequal magnitude will descend with difi*erent
rates of speed, the resisting action of the air against the under
surface of the drops will occasion unequal measures of com-
pression ; whilst a shower of rain, consisting of drops of un-
equal size, should, it is presumed, afford spectral angles of
somewhat different magnitudes. Theory, I think, would fairly
lead to such a conclusion. And if so, may we not herein dis-
cern the cause, possibly, of that phenomenon in the rainbow
which, so far as I am aware, has not been explained, of super-
numerary arches ? On an occasion in which I once observed
a rainbow with three or four such arches of *itigular beautjr»

66 Captain Vetch on Icebergs*

the colours of the supernumerary arches were ffreen and (as
appeared to my eyes) purple or violet. This splendid iris
(comprising primary, secondary, and supernumerary arches)
was seen at Bridlington Quay, August 12. 1826, at 5 p. m.,
during a heavy partial shower of rain. The whole phenomena
conveyed the impression of a magnificent canopy of vertical
arches, or ribs of arches, diminishing in distinctness as if the
observer were looking into an immense structure, spanning
the heavens, of one grand arch, illuminated with ethereal light,
and enriched with the brilliancy of the precious gems.
Vicarage, Bradford, Yorkshire, May 19. 1841,

Icebergs, and Changes of Geological Opinions. ' Communicated
in a Letter from Captain Vetch, F.G.S., &c., of the Royal
Engineers.

Dear Sir — Since I had the benefit of receiving my first
lessons in mineralogy and geology, at your lectures in the Col-
lege of Edinburgh, many changes of doctrine have taken place;
and it is to be trusted that we are gradually approaching the
true theory, though the oscillatory movement of our progress
may occasionally place us for a while at a greater distance
from the object of our search.

In the present day, the agency of icebergs is the fashion ;
and geologists are now much puzzled to find a sufiiciency of
cold and ice, in bygone days, to account for all the effects now
presumed to have been achieved by these agents.

Som.e of our younger geological brethren may, however,
recollect the not very distant day when heat could not be found
enough, in past periods, to account for the great quantities of
presumed tropical plants and animals deposited in our now
cold regions ; and it is rather unfortunate that such great
demands have been made upon such opposite causes to afford
explanation of the phenomena of geology, since we place our
globe in the condition of having hot and cold fits, like a patient
under the visitation of an intermitting fever ; for I presume
the theory of a gradually cooling condition of the earth is
almoftt abandoned.

Captain Vetch on Icebergs, ^ % 57

The agency of icebergs is not to be denied ; we see them at
work in the present day, and we can easily appreciate some of
their effects. But I would venture to caution geologists
against enlisting them to account for too many effects. I
well recollect, when attending your lectures, I was very much
surprised to find on the side of Dumpendcr Law a portion of
the clinkstone porphyry very nicely polished, as if done by a
lapidary. In those days the explanation was, that currents of
water had formerly passed at the heights of these polished
rocks, and bearing with them sand and gravel, which produced
a polish. Certainly the rarity of the occurrence was not very
conclusive, where so extensive and sweeping an agent was the
performer. With respect, however, to the case at Dumpender
Law, by frequently visiting the spot, I ascertained in a most
satisfactory manner the cause of the polish. I observed that
the sheep, in passing from one part of the hill to another, had
to pass the projecting polished rocks ; and farther, that the
passage was so narrow that they generally rubbed their fleece
on the face of the rock. Professor Leslie happened then to
be lecturing incidentally on the polish given to hard substances
from very minute and delicate materials, and he felt perfectly
convinced that the fleece of the sheep had been the polishing
substance. I have no doubt, however, were a modern Ice-
bergian to pass the spot on Dumpender Law, he would imme-
diately summon a mountain of ice to his assistance !

When I returned from Mexico in 1829, I stated to some
eminent geologists, that sweeping floods carrying sand and
gravel could not be admitted as a satisfactory explanation of
polished rocks; as I had examined, in Mexico, the beds of nu-
merous rivers cut out of the solid rock, and bearing vast quan-
tities of sand and gravel, and that in the dry season, when I
could examine every part of the bed, I had never detected a
striated polish, or indeed what could be considered a polish at
all, in the rocky beds. I was, however, told, that though the
torrents in Mexico might move with great force and velocity,
that nevertheless, if that was not sufficient to polish their beds,
currents of water might have existed, during certain changes
of the earth's condition, flowing with the velocity of a cannon-
fehot, 1000 miles an hour ; and with those who had such a

58 - . Captain Vetch on Icebergs^

mighty agent at hand, I could urge nothing further, but re-
mained, like the man

*\ Convinced against his will,
Of the same opinion still."

After my return from a second visit to .Mexico, opinions
had wonderfully changed. The great current of water car-
rying polishing sand and gravel, was abandoned as unsuitable,
and the more ready and simple agency of icebergs was adopted
instead ; and I congratulate geologists on this change of opi-
nion for many reasons, but most of all, because it is an agency
which we can still see at work.

I had lately the pleasure of hearing a very able paper read
at the Geological Society of London, by Mr Murchison, on
the deposit of the great boulders of the north of Germany,
through the agency of floating ice ; and few will doubt the
very happy and satisfactory explanation thus afforded by
assigning the effects to that cause. While listening to the
reading of the paper, it occurred to me, that at this day there
is a regular stream of floating icebergs, which, passing down
from Davis' Straits and Hudson's Straits, direct their course
along the Bank of Newfoundland until they get into the Gulf
stream (a little farther south), where they speedily melt, or
fall to pieces, and drop their earthy and rocky appendages,
and that, were the course of these icebergs ever to become
dry land, we should find a collection of rocks, boulders, gra-
vel, and sand, dropped by them, similar to what Mr Murchi-
son has described in Russia and Germany.

Of the great constancy of the stream of icebergs which now
passes southward along the east margin of the Bank of New-
foundland, I give the following facts, as witnessed by myself.
I believe these bodies are generally or almost always to be
seen in the months of March and April in and about Lat. 42°
N. and Long. 50° W. of Greenwich. Whether they are to be
seen there at other periods, I am not acquainted.

Ship Corinthian, Captain Davis, 1824, 10th April. Lat.
43° 22' N., Long. 46° W.

Saw an iceberg to the south.

11th April. Lat. 42° 20' N., Long. 50° W.

Saw a large iceberg three leagues to northward.

Captain Vetch on Icebergs* d9

Ship Ontario, Captain Seahore, 24th March. Lat. 42° 26' N.,
Long. 50" W.

Saw two icehergs, one to the southward, distant, appearing
like a ship under sail ; the other to the north, distant about
six miles. This last, as near as we could estimate, was about
one mile square, the edge nearest the ship being only about
iO feet high, and the more distant edge about 100 feet high,
presenting a wedge-form above water, thus :

slightly undulated, covered with snow a foot or two deep, the
edges or cliffs worn into all kinds of gullies and fissures by the
waves which broke against it in great force.

In the two voyages just referred to, we saw ice at the same
time of the year nearly, and at the same place ; nor in these
or other voyages which I have made across the Atlantic, did
I observe ice at any other season or place ; of course, extra-
ordinary states of the weather will cause irregularities in the
course of the icebergs. I am, however, led to believe, that
in the season I have mentioned, and at the locality stated,
vessels sailing between England and New York will cross the
great stream of icebergs, and, consequently, that the naviga-
tion then and there must always be dangerous ; and I was
only surprised not to hear of more loss of shipping from such
a cause of danger. And when the steam-boats were intro-
duced between this country and North America, I always
feared some fatality would arise in the season of March and
April, in dark weather, owing to the velocity of the boats.
That we have not heard of losses of sailing-vessels striking on
ice in the locality named, will readily be explained by the fact
that it can hardly ever happen that a soul escapes to tell the
melancholy tale.

If my inferences are, however, correct, they lead to import-
ant considerations, now that steam navigation is becoming so
much in use between this country and North America ; and
the master and officers should be instructed to use every pre-
caution, and exercise the utmost vigilance, when approaching

'60 Captain Vetch on Icebergs.

and passing the locality at the season when danger may be
expected. I remain, dear Sir, yours truly,

James Vetch.

Additional Note.

Since the above communication was transmitted to you, the
public journals have announced several facts strongly confir-
matory of the great danger to which shipping is exposed by
the occurrence of icebergs off the south-east margin of the
Bank of Newfoundland.

Ship Wm. Brown of Philadelphia, G. L. Harris, master,
1841, April 19., N. Lat. 43° 30^, Long. 49° 39' W.

Vessel going 10 knots, struck on an iceberg at 9 p. m., and
a little after struck again ; at midnight the ship w^ent down,
with thirty-three souls on board.

Great Western Steam-ship of Bristol, James Hosken, master.

1841, April 18.— First iceberg seen in Lat. 43^ N,, and
Long. 48° 30' W. April 19.— Last iceberg seen in Lat. 42<^
20' N., and Long. 50° W. Between these localities the sea
was covered with ice.

It is singular that in six localities where icebergs have been
seen, as above enumerated, two of these are identical both in
latitude and longitude ; and it will be noted that this locality
is on the edge of the bank, where some charts only record
24 fathoms water, and v/liere, consequently, great icebergs
must inevitably strike the bottom.

44

T

43

42

46

41

rt, Iceberg seen from Corinthian, 10th April 1824.
6, Do. ... Ditto 11th April 1824.

c. Do. ... Ontario, 24th March 1832.

d. Do. ... Wm. Brown, 19th April 1841.
/, Do. ... Gt. Western, 18th April 1841.
f. Do. ... Ditto 19th April 1841.

The whole space from c to/ covered with ice.

( 61 ) •

On the Downs of Denmark^ By Professor G. Forchhammer of
Copenhagen.

The formations which are constantly going on on the sea-
coast, have on the whole occupied but little of the attention of
geologists of late years, and for this reason, that the vast phe-
nomena of volcanos, and the therewith connected elevations
and depressions, have almost exclusively attracted their in-
terest.

The masses deposited from the sea, perform, however, so
important a part in the history of the globe, that a more ex-
act study of the mode in which such formations are produced,
cannot be without value for the science of geognosy. Owing
to the great extent and the varied nature of the Danish coasts,
the study of these deposits has been pursued for a consider-
able period, and the stretch of coast which I have taken as
the basis of the observations presented in this essay, extends
from the mouth of the Eider to the northern point of Jutland,
from 54° 15' to 57° 4()', a distance of nearly 300 English miles,
if the bondings of the coast be reckoned.

The whole western coast of Denmark is inclosed by one or,
properly speaking, two systems of downs, of which the inner
one, eastwards, indicates the coast of the sea at an earlier and
ante-historical period, and the outer one indicates the present
coast of the sea. The outer range of downs commences at
the farthest point of Eiderstedt, and is here therefore on the
solid land ; but some centuries ago Eiderstedt consisted of
three islands, which only at a subsequent period became united
with the mainland, and have continued to be protected against
the tides by artificial dikes. From this west point of the land the
range of downs extends uninterruptedly through currents of the
sea separating the islands, over the islands Amrom, Sylt, Ro-
moe, Manoe, and Fancie, and reaches the mainland again not
far from Hjerting, whence it stretches without interruption
to the northern point of Jutland, to what is termed the Gren
near Skagen.

If we look at this system of downs from a distance, we
imagine it to be a range of hills, and the sharp, serrated forms

62 Professor G. Forclihanimer on the Downs of Denmark.

remind us much more of porphyritic chains, than of a moveable
formation composed of sand and reared by the wind. To-
wards the sea these ridges are frequently cut off perpendicu-
larly, and towards the land they are inclined at an angle of
30°; they never form continuous chains of equal height, but
greater elevations always rise near one another, which are se-
parated by valleys which are more or less deep. If we pro-
ceed to the interior of the system of downs, we recognise a
double series of valleys, viz. longitudinal valleys, which run
parallel to the coast, and separate the masses of the downs
into several paralleKranges, and transverse valleys, which cut
the ranges into separate hills. The view of such a region
of downs is indescribably bleak ; we are surrounded every-
where by sand, which is set in motion by the 'slightest wind,
and a living creature is rarely to be seen in this wilderness.
On the high part of the downs an oyster-catcher (Hcemato-
pus ostralegus) may be occasionally seen devouring its prey ;
a hare, and in some places a rabbit, are the only larger animals
visible ; while the slow regular stroke of the waves on the
shore is the only sound that meets the ear. One may wan-
der for very many miles along the downs without the slightest
alteration of scene, and without meeting with any other plants
but the upright sea lyme-grass ( Elymus arenarius ) ^ and some
species^ of Scirpus and Juncus in the very moist valleys. If we
ascend the downs, the scene changes, and the sea spreads it-
self before us with its lines of waves, which approach the
shore like white breakers. But the sea also presents but
little that is enlivening, for ships are but rarely seen, as they
avoid a coast which, throughout its whole extent, has hardly a
single port which can afford protection or shelter.

The scene is entirely changed when the sea is agitated by
a storm. It is then hardly possible to remain upriglit on the
downs, unless where they lie close to the coast, or are cut
off perpendicularly towards the sea. Then the wind is little
or not at all felt, a circumstance which is quite general on
our coasts, and is experienced not only in the case of our
abrupt declivities having a height of 200 feet, but even
in that of the precipices of the Faroe Islands, which are 2000
feet high. The cattle always betalve themselves to the edge of

Professor G. Forchhatnmer on the Downs of Denmark. 63

the cliff in a storm, and not unfrequently fall over. The cause
of the phenomenon is, that the wind, by striking against the
perpendicular wall, produces a current upwards, which ascends
higher than the cliff, and so protects the observer against the
storm by a wall of air. A storm sets the sand of the clowns
in motion, and it is hardly possible to endure for any length
of time the pain caused to the face and hands by the agitated
sand. On all sides the individual is surrounded by huge
sand-clouds, and the sea along the whole coast, so far as the
eye can reach, forms a series of waterfalls, where, the waves
breaking on one of the three sand-banks which stretch along
the coast of Jutland, descend again from a height of 15 or 16
feet, and become lost in foam, giving rise to a scene with
which, for its imposing effect, perhaps no waterfall in the
world can compete. Snow-white balls of foam, like flocks of
sea-gulls, cross the downs far on the land, and the observer
soon has his face, hands, and clothes covered with salt. It is
difficult to make one's self intelligible in speaking, owing to
the sound of the waves. Ere the storm draws near, and while
the air is still tranquil, the noise of the billows is heard at a
distance of nearly twenty English miles from the coast. Hence
it may be known several hours previously that a storm is ap-
proaching, for the undulation proceeds more rapidly in the
sea than in the air.

The height of the downs is various. It amounts, in some
places bet\veen List on the island Sylt and Nyemindegab at
the mouth of the Ringkjopingsfjord, to 100 feet, a height
which is remarkable regarding the downs of List, as, from the
coast of the sea, they consist entirely of loose sand. The
Blaabjerg (Blue Hill), to the north of Varde, which reaches
a height of 100 feet, is a down which rests on a pretty high
ancient substratum of boulder-clay. Northwards from tlie
mouth of the Ringkjopingsfjord the height of the downs is
much diminished, and at Skagen it is hardly 30 feet. This
is very remarkable, for the height of downs depends on the
strength of the wind, and the size of the grains which are set
in motion by the wind ; and as, on the whole, the material on
this coast is of a similar nature, the height of the downs here
becomes a measure of the strength of the wind. We are so

64 Professor G. Forchhammer on the Downs of Denmark.

much inclined to assume that the strength of storms increases
towards the north, that for a long time I could not give credit to
my observations. A glance, however, at the map fully explains
the phenomenon. With us, the most violent storms come most
frequently from the north-west, and it is exactly where the
downs begin to diminish that the southern part of Norway pre-
sents itself as a protection against this direction of the wind ;
and hence it need not surprise us, that plantations of trees
succeed in the valleys of the Downs of Skagen, while, on the
island Sylt, three degrees farther south, attempts to plant
have hitherto failed.

The material of which the wind has formed the downs is
sand, generally beach-sand, which originally seems to have
been derived from the great brown-coal formation. In the
south this down-sand is mixed with many white plates of mica
of the same formation, and this has given rise to the incorrect
assertion, that the drift-sand is distinguished from. other sand
in this, that it consists of small plates of quartz. In the
north, near Skagen, the down-sand contains much titanic-
iron and garnet, both of which are likewise derived from the
brown-coal formation. The size of the moving grains of sand,
which depends on the strength of the wind, is most consider-
able where the downs are highest. At List 30 of the largest
grains weighed 790 milligrammes, while the same number at
Ager weighed only 200 milligrammes.*

The form of a down in the act of formation is different from
that presented by a broken-up down. The former presents a
gently inclined flat surface, varying from five degrees to ten
degrees towards the direction of the prevailing wind which pro-
duces it, that is, towards the west or north-west. It is only
where a new down is formed on an old broken-up down that
many larger angles occur, whiehj'^however, are only exceptions.
In the direction opposite to that of the prevailing wind, a down
presents a much higher angle, which, I may say, is constant ;
for it amounts everywhere to thirty degrees, where the for-

* Downs always abound much in water,' owing to their capillary action,
and, on their heights, it is seldom necessary to dig more than a foot to meet
with wet sand ; in the valleys of the downs fresh water is immediately en-
<:ountered on digging.

Professor G. Forchhammer on the Downs of Denmark, 65

mation of the down is quite free. It is only where very small
flat surfaces occur that this angle reaches forty degrees, and
such cases are merely exceptions. In order to explain this
constancy in the internal angle of downs, we must have re-
course to the mode in which downs are actually formed, and
this is, that they increase on their inner side. The sand ascends
the gently inclined slanting surface. When it reaches the
highest point, it falls, and, as it is there entirely protected from
the wind, there is only one condition which exercises an influ-
ence on the angle under which the sand is deposited, and that is
the size and form of the grains. On the side directed towards
the wind, the angle is not only determined by the adherence
of the grains of sand with one another, but the wind also
strives to spread the grains. As, therefore, the form and size
of the grains vary but little upon the whole, inasmuch as they
are all polished by the sea, it may be understood how there
cauvbe little if any variation in the inner angle of inclination
of the downs. The outer side, which is turned towards the
wind, is dependent on the strength of the wind, on the acci-
dental protection afforded on the coasts, and the like, — circum-
stances which vary everywhere ; and hence the diff^erence of
angle on that side. It is remarkable that the planting of downs
has upon the whole but little influence on their inclination ;
it is, in fact, invariably the falling sand which determines it.

In an undestroyed down, there are therefore no higher
angles than those mentioned ; but when, on the other hand,
a down is destroyed, other relations occur, which diff^er ac-
cording as it has been destroyed by the sea or wind. The
demolished downs occur most distinctly where the sea en-
croaches on the coast ; and this is more particularly the case
on the island Sylt, where not only the wind is strongest, but
where for several centuries the current has been pressing on
against the coast. Now, when the waves, during high tides,
reach the foot of the downs, they undermine the sand, and the
downs are cut down perpendicularly, and can remain in that
state for a long period, because the sand is kept together by
a net of roots belonging to the plants growing on it ; aud
hence we always find the sharpest forms of downs directed
towards the sea. When the wind destroys a down, peculiar

TOL. XXXI. NO. LXI. — JULY 1841. E

66 Professor G. Forchhammer 07i the Downs of Denmark.

relations arise, which can only be explained by the internal
structure of downs. Each down is stratified, and, in such a
manner, that it has one plane of stratification corresponding
to the inclination towards the wind, therefore, generally
speaking, an angle of five degrees towards the west ; and a
second, which inclines under an angle of thirty degrees, to the
east. This stratification is exhibited in the alternation of fine
and coarse grains, whose deposition is produced by the differ-
ent degrees of strength of the wind. As the downs increase
chiefly on the inner side, this is the prevailing direction, which,
however, undergoes numerous modifications. When a gentle
wind blows, it matters not from what direction, the down is
furrowed, and presents a gently waved surface. This circum-
stance is extremely well marked in the northern portion of
Jiitland, where the down-sand contains titanic iron. There,
each small wave-like eminence, hardly an inch high, is formed
of white quartz sand, while the depression consists of black
titanic sand, and, by means of this distinction of colours, the form
of the surface is very distinctly brought out. The wind-furrows
on the surface of the downs are just as perfect as the water-fur-
rows of the horizontal sandy surfaces which are from time to
time flooded by the sea ; and, notwithstanding the greatest
attention, I have never been able to detect the slightest dis-
tinction between the two. This is easily explained, because
these water-furrows are produced by the direct action of a
gentle wind on the water, at the place where it bows, when
the water thus transfers the waves of air only to the sand.
It results, therefore, that the stratification is not always a sign
of a covering by water, for here we have strata formed one
hundred feet above the level of the sea. But other features
likewise present themselves here, which are remarkable, and
occur not unfrequently in older formations. Thus, when a
wind, which is somewhat stronger than that which forms the
furrows, sets the down-sand in motion, the coarser sand re-
mains lying behind ; and, therefore, when the direction of
the wind is diff^erent from the prevailing one, it will form a
surface which cuts the plane of stratification. If now the pre-
vailing direction of the wind be reversed, the formation
of downs is continued as it formerly proceeded, and there is

Professor G. Forchhammer on the Downs of Denmark. 67

produced a vein of coarse sand in the down. This very pe-
culiar formation of a vein is extremely well marked on the
west coast between Hjorring and Skagen, not far from a vil-
lage called Skiveren. The beach there consists of horizontally
stratified sand, deposited by the sea, which contains, distri-
buted throughout its whole mass, separate beach stones ; and
upon this sand there reposes drift-sand. The wind has blown
away the sand and collected the stones into a bed, which is
highly inclined towards the sea, and consequently cuts the
original beds under more or less considerable angles. Upon
this bed of sand, there has again been deposited drift-
sand, as shewn by Fig. 1, Plate III., and so given rise to
a peculiar kind of vein composed of large stones, and
even urns and stone- weapons. There are also interesting
examples of interrupted and saddle-shaped stratification
(Fig. 2.). Not unfrequently we meet with shells high up on
the downs, more especially oyster-shells. These are brought
thither by the oyster-catchers, which drag their prey on the
downs in order to devour it there, and they furnish the re-
maining feature to complete the resemblance of the aerial to
the marine formations. Stratification, veins of coarse sand, and
even petrifactions of the shell-fish of the sea, are here com-
bined, and yet water has not directly had the smallest share in
this formation, — a circumstance which should give the geo-
logist a lesson of caution in drawing his conclusions. Let
us imagine this series of downs, with its strata of up-
wards of two hundred miles, and unaltered stratification,
converted into sandstone, and under circumstances in
which its origin and mode of formation could not be
directly ascertained ; would the observer not have re-
course to Plutonic heavings, when he saw the highly-inclined
strata, the sharply-marked longitudinal and transverse valleys,
and the interrupted ridges ? We may ask where is the down-
formation of the ancient period, and in what formation shall
we find it ? We know the coast limestone of ancient time
but I am not prepared to indicate any where the sandstones
which represent the downs ; probably most of the downs
were again destroyed by a subsequent covering of the sea,
ere any action could bind together the loose sand into a solid
sandstone ; but it may be assumed that somewhere circum-

68 Professor G. Forchhammer on the Downs of Denmark,

stances existed of a kind to preserve the peculiarity of their
forms. At all events, there belong to this down-formation
the chains of sand-hills of Rhynpeskie and Barchani, between
the Wolga and the Jaik, which extend from the lake of Elton
to the Caspian sea. We have there the same chains of hills
and longitudinal valleys, the same abundance of water, the
same fresh vegetation in the valleys : the only difference being,
that the breadth is much more considerable than in our
downs, a circumstance easy of explanation, inasmuch as they
were formed by a receding sea, which, in the course of its
diminution, continued to form new sand-hills beyond the older
chain of downs. On the other hand, the height of the Cauca-
sian Downs is much less considerable than that of the Danish.
To such formations also belongs the inner chain of downs on
the west coast of the peninsula of Jutland, Schleswig, and
Holstein ; it lies on the boundary of the Marsch, is older than
it, and its formation belongs to the ante-historical period. It
is in some places upwards of twenty English miles distant from
the present chain of downs, and has only an inconsiderable
elevation. The appearances it presents indicate the action of
a much less agitated sea than that which now washes these
coasts. I shall therefore once more briefly enumerate the
peculiarities of the forms I have mentioned. The downs are
stratified ; this stratification is on the small scale always (?)
waved, and exhibits on the great scale a double inclination,
whose higher angle, which, from the reasons adduced above,
scarcely ever deviates much from 30°, is always inclined away
from the coast, but whose lower one is inclined towards the
coast. Stones are entirely awanting ; valves of shells occur ;
many chains of hills said to be elevations may belong to the
same category as these downs.

Before quitting the subject of the downs, I must mention
a peculiar modification of the formation which is already per-
fected in Vensyssel, but is still in progress in the western por-
tion of the Liimfjord. It is produced by the down-sand
moving in lakes, or in water in general. In Vensyssel, the most
northern portion of Jutland, which, together with Thy, has
again become an island since the year 1825, there are united
together, insular, much higher portions, which are perfectly

Professor G. Forchhammer on the Downs of Denmark. 69

horizontal surfaces of sand. These surfaces of sand sometimes
contain not a single stone for great distances. Their stratifi-
cation is horizontal and not waved, and they consist of the
drift-sand, which, however, is here undoubtedly deposited
from water, as is proved by the horizontality of the surface
and of the stratification. An arm of the Liimfjord, the Han-
weile and Bygholmweile, was towards the end of the last cen-
tury almost filled up in this manner ; for, at that time, the
downs were left to themselves, and, as that gulf was only se-
parated by downs from the sea, the moving sand constantly
found its way into the Fohrde ; and the proposal has been
several times made to lay this portion of the gulf dry by arti-
ficial means, and to cultivate the sandy soil. The plan has not,
however, been carried into effect, as the value of land had
been much depreciated and was only increased of late years ;
and, besides, the soil (though the drift-sand, in comparison
with other sandy soils, is very fruitful, owing to the numerous
plates of mica it contains), does not promise much success for
great undertakings. In the year 1825, when the narrow neck
of land which separates the Liimfjord from the sea was broken
through by a great storm, the whole mass of downs which
covered this isthmus was projected into the Liimfjord, and so
filled that portion of it, that in many places where formerly
there was a depth of water of 16-20 feet, there only remained
1 foot of water. This irruption, which converted the Liimf-
jord into a sound, and the northern portion of Jutland
into an island, caused wonderful changes. The first and
most remarkable phenomenon was the sudden mortality
of nearly all the fresh-water fishes which previously in-
habited this bay, so celebrated for its rich fishing. Millions
of fresh-water fishes were driven on the land, partly dead,
partly dying, and were removed by the inhabitants in nume-
rous waggons, and only a few have remained at the spots where
fresh- water streams flow into the Liimfjord. The eel alone
has become gradually accustomed to these altered circum-
stances, and has become again an inhabitant of the whole
Liimfjord ; while the salt water of the sea would seem to
have been unbearable to the other fresh-water fishes. It
is more than probable that the masses of sand which were

70 Professor G. Forchhammer on the Downs of Denmark,

borne in with the sea-flood, in many places cover layers of
dead fishes, and have thus formed beds of petrifactions similar
to those which we find in the older formations. As it appears
to be a general law, that the animals which are suddenly de-
stroyed in the full vigour of life are more especially preserved
as petrifactions, we see here one of the phenomena which may
furnish beds of fossil organic remains. The Liimf jord at that
time abounded in water-plants, both marine and fresh water,
and more especially in Zostera marina, and this vegetation
entirely disappeared after the irruption of the sea, in many
places because the surface was covered with sand ; and thus
was repeated the phenomenon of the older formations so well
known in geognosy, where one species of plant indicates a
particular bed; and at some future day, when' the beds thus
formed shall be rendered accessible by elevations, the period of
the irruption of the sea will, in this case, be found marked by a
bed of Zostera, and probably by impressions of fresh-water fishes.
It is very striking that the Zostera marina, a sea-plant, was even
destroyed where there was no covering with sand ; a circum-
stance which is probably caused by the very sudden change
from the feebly saline condition of the water to its present
state. Thus perish the Plaice (Schollen) which are taken near
Skagen, when the fishermen attempt to bring them to Copen-
hagen in their boats ; whereas the fish of this kind taken thirty
English miles farther south, near Frederickshavn, are per-
fectly suited to this transport. In a similar way, after the
storm of the winter 1839, all the large plaice in the ]L.iim-
f jord disappeared, and only quite small, probably young in-
dividuals, with a pliable organization, have survived the catas-
trophe. It is proved that the Liimf jord was at an earlier
time in connection with the sea ; and from this period are
derived the vast beds of shells of oysters and of Cardium
edule which are found in the Liimf jord. After having, for
many centuries, supported no salt-water shells, this bay
still supports a great quantity of Mytilus edulis ; and if we
could obtain a section of the soil, we would find, first of all,
large deposits of Ostrea edulis and Cardium edule, then a layer
of Zostera marina^ with fresh-water fishes and probably fresh-
water shells, and then again a bed of Mytilus edulis. If, in

Professor G. Forchhammer on the Downs of Denmark. 71

the course of time, this canal should become again obstructed,
and the streams of the former sound again filled with fresh
water, fresh-water fishes and shells would again make their
appearance ; and thus a frequently repeated alternation of the
organic remains of the inhabitants of the sea and of lakes
would be produced. Although this change is of very great
moment to the inhabitants of the districts near the Liimfjord,
inasmuch as the irruption of the sea, by destroying the fisher-
ies, annihilated the means of support of the inhabitants, while,
on the other hand, by the free communication with the North
Sea, it opened up new paths of commerce and navigation ;
yet the alteration of surface is comparatively trifling, whereas
the formations at the bottom of this sea have entirely altered
their character.

Between the ranges of downs, there frequently occur land
lakes, of greater or smaller extent, which are termed Down-
lakes ; and in these, a strong vegetation of marsh plants is
combined with the formation of peat {Torf-Bildung), which, so
long as the down-sand is kept under, quietly progresses.
When, however, an unusually strong storm acts on the diffi-
cultly repressed downs, then the sand flies into the lakes, covers
the peat with layers of sand, and puts an end to that forma-
tion. When afterwards, in the course of time, the currents
of the sea cut away the coast, the downs retire into the land,
fill up the lakes, and form in this manner those remarkable
beds of fossil peat termed Martorv, which seem to have re-
mained unknown to the geologists of the rest of Europe. To
the north of the village of Ageren, there are a great many of
these beds of Martorv ; but the most extensive is the most
northern of all, which, in the communes of Raabjerg and Ska-
gen, on the west coast, has an extent of five English miles,
and stretches deep into the land. But this interesting pheno-
menon is not confined to this coast. On the north coast of
Seeland, in the last century, there was a very destructive
tract of drift-sand, which, however, in the year 1760, was
repressed, and is now covered with fir-woods. The drift-sand
has half covered some peat-moors which lie at the boundary
of the chain of downs, and thus partially interrupted the growth
of the peat. Now, while the still living moor, if I may be al-

72 Professor G. Forchhammer on the Downs of Denmark,

lowed the expression, contains a peat, which is not at all dif-
ferent from tlie peat of the rest of the moors of the district,
the portion of it which lies under the drift-sand is converted
into quite another substance. Our usual moor-peat weighs
16 — 20 pounds the cubic foot ; that which has been compressed
by the sand weighs 78 pounds. In our usual peat, after it has
been dried, there is hardly a trace of stratification perceptible ;
but in the other, the stratification is very distinct, nay, the
structure is almost slaty ; and when we compare it with the
sides of an excavation in fresh peat, we see plainly that the
thin layers contain the product of one period of vegetation,
therefore of one year. When, therefore, as is the case in North
Seeland, the peat-moor is chiefly formed by the destruction of
a forest vegetation, it is impossible to distinguish, in hand
specimens, this peat covered with drift-sand from brown coal.
Between the villages of Lyngbye and Lokken in Vensyssel,
there is a similar bed of Martorv about 15 feet above the level
of the sea. It reposes unconformably on blue clay, and in such
a manner that the strata of Martorv are gently inclined on
both sides towards the middle, where a small stream flows,
which interrupts the bed of peat, and has cut deeply into the
underlying clay. The bed of Martorv passes completely, in its
continuation sidewards, into black earth, and this latter, as
well as the peat, are covered by stratified masses of drift-
sand. If we pursue this little valley, we find, when we have
left the downs, a little stream, which in this place, as almost
everywhere in Denmark, is surrounded by meadow-peat, and
thus we have here a full explanation of the interesting phe-
nomenon of the formation of this bed of burning material which
has already become fossil. A three-fold system of strata pre-
sents itself in this cliff". The lower blue clay, a marine for-
mation of the present period, is inclined under an angle of 5°
to 8° to the south, then the fresh- water formation of the Mar-
torv^ with its northern and southern dip, and, lastly, the downs,
-snth their varied, often highly inclined, stratification. Fig. 3,
Plate 3, exhibits distinctly this appearance.

At another point the Martorv^ which is also there covered
by down-sand, reposes on horizontal strata of blue clay full
of Cardium edule and Mytilus cdidU. As the peat GontaingI

Professor G. Forclihammer oti the Dotvns of Denmark, 73

many remains of land and fresh-water plants, while the drift-
sand, as already stated, not unfrequently contains oyster- shells,
we have in this case just such alternations as tertiary rocks
present.

By much the most remarkable bed of Martorv is, however,
that already mentioned, which includes the most northern
part of Jutland. For the distance of nearly five English miles
from Skiveren to Hoyen, it extends continuously like a black
stripe in the perpendicular cliff. Generally it reposes on a
fine sand, which, on a superficial glance, might be regarded
as drift- sand, but which belongs to the sea, and which partly
contains separate rolled stones, and partly includes within it-
self actual beds of boulders. This layer, which lies in the
midst of sand, has in it something so extraordinary, considered
as a peat-moor, that another explanation has been had recourse
to. It has been regarded as a turf-covering (Rasen-Decke)
spread over by the western storms ; but although storms can
tear up the turf, still in the present case the explanation is
inadmissible, and Dr Ringel has years ago pointed out this
formation as a dried peat-moor covered by drift-sand. There
are found in it many marsh plants, such as the seeds of Meny-
anthes trifoUata, as well as the stems and twigs of birches,
oaks, poplars, and willows ; also insects, deer's antlers, and
the teeth of oxen. It likewise contains artificial products,
such as arrow heads of flint, a circumstance which proves that it
must have been a lalce or an actual moor after the country was
inhabited. We have every reason, however, to assume that
this great peat-moor was at one time a lake, for in the lake
moors we find everywhere distributed through the country the
' antlers of deer and elks, the skulls and horns of oxen, and
rarely the antlers of rein-deer ; remains regarding which we
must assume, that, when the moor was a lake, the animals to
which they belonged must have broken or sunk through the
floating covering of moss which we still find on many of our
lakes at present in existence. It strikes us with astonishment
when we reflect on the changes which this north-eastern ex-
tremity of Jutland must have undergone since man inhabited
the country ; for the lake in which this turf was found must
have been at least five miles long, and now the whole is eo-

74 Professor G. Forchhammer on the Downs of Denmark.

vered by sand-downs. Similar beds of peat extend on the
west coast of Jutland to the south ; to the south of the Liim-
fjord they are under the level of the sea, and at the island
Sylt th€y are 6 or 8 feet under the level of the sea, and con-
tain large trunks of birch. Farther south they lie deep under
the Marsch, therefore far under the level of the present sea ;
and it is known that on the coasts of Holland and of Corn-
wall they likewise occiu: under the level of the sea. They
indicate that great sinking which took place in the present
epoch of the earth from the west coast of England as far as
the Liixnfjord, which gave the shores of the north sea their
present aspect, and, without doubt, either prepared for, or pro-
duced, the separation of England from France.

The remaining features of the Martorv bed of Skagen and
Raabjerg are the following. In general there is only one bed,
whose thickness in some places amounts to 4 feet. It gene-
rally reposes on horizontally stratified beach-sand with de-
tached rolled beach-stones ; sometimes on finer less distinctly
stratified sand without stones, which is evidently drift-sand
which had been blown into the lake ; in other places on a
very distinctly stratified layer of fine silica, perfectly similar
to that which throughout Denmark lies under the lake-moors,
exhibits an organic structure under the microscope, and ac-
cording to the observations of Mr Steenstrup, contains fossil
infusoria ; here and there the beach-sand under the peat-bed
is united into a solid sandstone by iron, a bog iron formation,
which stands in connection with the titanic iron of the drift-
sand ; for everywhere in the valleys of the downs where the
downs are covered by plants, we find that beds of iron are
deposited, which are extracted from the sand by the slow action
of the humic acid. Although, as has been already said, there
is generally only one bed of peat, yet in some places we find two,
and at one point we have three (fig. 4, Plate III.) ; they are sepa-
rated by fine sand, and the two upper beds are sandy. At this
place it is evident that the formation of peat has been interrup-
ted by the down-sand blown into the lake, afterwards continued,
and again interrupted. That the whole is merely local is
plain from the connection of the three beds, and from the

Professor G. Forchhammer on the Downs of Denmark, 76

quantity of sand which the upper peat-beds contain. It is
clear that after the series of downs had approached so near
to the lake in which the peat was being formed, that the sand
was blown into it, no continued formation of peat could longer
take place, because every violent storm must have interrupted
the vegetation by the sand it brought along with it. The sea
then continues to cut away the sand from beneath the peat,
and the bed of peat, deprived of its support, falls down in large
masses, covers the acclivity and the beach itself, until, being
entirely destroyed by the waves, it is carried away. But this
action goes on slowly, and as a whole there is but little dimi-
nution of the coast to be remarked. The bed is in general
very distinctly stratified, and the planes of stratification are
indicated by Junci ; I found this particularly the case with the
lowest portion of the bed. Occasionally true charcoal is found
in the peat, a circumstance which is particularly distinct in
the moor-peat of Seeland, and is peculiar to our peat-moors
in general, where these are more or less formed of wood.
Thus stems entirely carbonized on the surface are frequent in
the Seeland moors ; and when we perceive the quantity of
true charcoal in these peat-moors, we are led to believe that
forest conflagrations must have frequently raged in these dis-
tricts. This appears undoubtedly to have been the case, but
not to the extent which the abundance of charcoal would in-
duce us to imagine. Charcoal is, as is well known, one of the
most indestructible substances, and after the lapse of centuries,
the place can be discovered where a heap of charcoal has for-
merly stood, by the black colour of the soil, and by the frag-
ments scattered about, and which subsequent continued cul-
tivation could not remove. All the eharcoal, therefore, which
has been formed during the long continuance of the growth of
the peat must be preserved, while a large portion of the other
vegetable matter has disappeared. It is, however, compre-
hensible likewise, that in those days frequent and extensive
conflagrations must have taken place, just as at present, in
North America ; to which country the former character of
Denmark seems to have borne a great resemblance. We have
only to think of the great forest-fire which occurred in the
year 1825 on the banks of the Mii'amichi, and which destroyed

76 Professor G. Forchhammer on the Donms of Denmark,

a tract of country 140 English miles in length, and 70 miles
in breadth.

The connection of the still living peat-moors with brown
coal and other coals through the link afforded by the Martorv,
unquestionably merits the attention of geologists. In the case
of coal, as in that of peat, the humic acid produced by the de-
struction of plants, extracts the iron from the soil in which it
is distributed, and collects it into a bed ; and it is remarkable
enough that the iron-beds of the coal formation of Wales, as
well as of other countries, contain titanium, as if the solution
of the titanic sand had taken place there, as it does in the case
now before us. In most peat a distinct stratification can be
recognised, as in the chief substance of the coal formation, the
slate-coal ; and it is quite reasonable to assume that the slaty
structure of the coal is derived from the yearly layers of the
vegetation of ancient peat-moors. Let us just reflect on what
would take place if a bed of moor-peat, covered with drift-
sand, were subjected to continued heat under high pressure.
The individual layers of the yearly deposits of the moor w ould
remain ; they would, however, diminish in size, by the substitu-
tion of the component parts, and by the removal of a portion of
the oxygen as carbonic acid, and we should, after the coal had
been formed, be able to discover the same layers, now become
thinner. This is exactly the case with slate-coal, and when we
examine the very thin layers, Ave perceive that the formation
in a period, which most probably was a year, is but extremely
inconsiderable, and that we must partly ascribe to length of
time what has been attributed to very rich vegetation.

Even the phenomenon of the distribution of charcoal on the
stratified surfaces of peat is not awanting in the more ancient
coal ; and we have only to break up a piece of Newcastle coal
in order to discover everywhere, on such surfaces, mineral
charcoal (fibrous anthracite). Whence arose the forest- fires
at that period when no human beings existed who could ignite
the woods ? At present, lightning very often sets woods on
fire, and probably did so at that epoch.

In order to render complete the analogy with the older for-
mations, we frequently find, in the moor-peat beds of Skagen,
flattened branches and stems of birch. This arises from the

PLATE III. Ediit':¥ewPhil.Jour.Vol.51,v.n.

Fiq.l.

Fu).2.

Fi^.3

Fi^.4.

S

.T.rr.Mitchca.Sc

M. Renoir on the Traces of Ancient Glaciers. 77

peculiar structure of birch-wood, which is always so soft in our
moors which have not been dried up, that it can be easily
crumbled together between the fingers, while oak and fir are
by no means so much softened. So small a pressure as that
exercised by 8 or 10 feet of drift-sand is quite sufficient to
flatten birch branches.

EXPLANATION OF THE FIGURES IN PLATE III.
Fig. 1. near the village of Skiveren ; a, horizontally stratified beach sand;
6, bed or vein of beach stones : c, drift sand. Fig. 2. interrupted and
saddle-shaped arrangemcAts of the eand. Fig. 3. between Lyngbye
and Lbkken : aa, blue clay ; hh, Martorv ; c, earth ; dd, drift sand ; «,
cut made by the rivulet. Fig. 4. between Skiveren and Hoien ; a, beach
sand with rolled stones ; h, beach sand covered with the stone bed ex-
posed by the wind 'y ccc, Martorv ; dd, drift sand ; ee, portions of the
Martdry which have fallen down : /, the beach ; ^, the sea.

On the Traces of Ancient Glaciers which have filled the Valleys

of the Alps of Dauphiny, and on those of the same nature^

7vhich appear to result from some of the Observations made

by M. Bobert in Northern Russia, By M. Renoir.

Having traversed the Grand-Chartreuse alone, a few days

before the meeting of the Society at Grenoble, I thought it

unnecessary to go over the same ground again a few days

afterwards.

In the minutes which were read after the return of the So-
ciety, it was stated that rocks polished by erratic blocks had
been observed at Fontenil. As I had not visited that locality,
in consequence of having returned by coach, I could make no
objection to this statement in the minutes, but I resolved to
visit the rocks in question.

The day after the breaking up of the Society, therefore,
M. Gras and I repaired to the quarries of Fontenil. We had
the satisfaction of finding there many polished surfaces, as
beautiful and as well preserved as any that can be seen among
the Swiss Alps or on the southern declivity of the Jura. But
the appearance of the furrows with rounded edges, and par-
ticularly the system of fine striiP, very parallel and all running
in the general direction of the valley of the Isere, shewed us
that the surfaces had not been polished by blocks, but rather,
like those of the regions mentioned, by an immense glacier
which has at some remote period moved throughout the whole

78 M. Renoir on the Traces of Ancient Glaciers.

breadth of this extensive valley. Moreover, erratic blocks,
even admitting that they had been rubbed against the rocks
by the action of a great current of water, could produce no-
thing like the appearances observed here, for reasons which I
have had occasion already to explain in a notice inserted in
the Bulletin, t. xi. p. 53. They could not draw furrows with
rounded edges like those in question, nor mamelonate the sur-
faces of rocks by polishing them equally in every direction,
nor above all could they trace fine striae in them, rectilinear
and parallel, and always in the same direction as the valley,
that is to say, in the direction which the moving glacier must
necessarily have taken. Besides, it may be asked, by what
accident iSi^facies of these surfaces is found to be identically
the same as that of rocks undergoing the process of polishing
by glaciers at the present time, and which we have an oppor-
tunity of witnessing with our own eyes ? I am therefore of
opinion that the cause which the Society has assigned for the
polish of the rocks at Fontenil is not the one that is generally
adopted in the present day.

The best preserved parts of these rocks, and on the surface
of which the polish is most perfect, are those which have been
recently exposed by the workmen who have removed, in
quarrying, the sand or soil which covered them. These only
shew in perfection the fine striae, which have disappeared
from all those long exposed to the action of atmospheric agents,
and in which the polish has already undergone considerable
alteration. This deterioration is observed in all polished sur-
faces, but it may easily be conceived to be more or less rapid
as the rock, from its composition, is more or less fitted to re-
sist meteoric influences. Here the polished surfaces belong
to a neocomien formation.

Polished rocks are not observed solely in the valley of the
Isere ; they are also found in many parts of that of Romanche :
and M. Gras, who intends to occupy himself with researches
of this nature, will doubtless discover them in all the other
great valleys of the department.

The glacier which, at the commencement of the general
melting in these latitudes, has taken its direction along the
bason in which the town of Grenoble is built, must have been
of immense size, for it was composed by the union of all those

M. Renoir on the Traces of Ancient Glaciers. 79

that descended from the neighbouring summits. It was there-
fore as extensive as the bason of the presently existing tribu-
taries of the Isere, for the greater part of these tributaries
originate from the mountains whose summits are still covered
with the remains of these ancient glaciers. Thus, the neigh-
bourhood of Grenoble was the receptacle of the ice which de-
scended from Mounts Olan and Muande, by the valleys of the
Bonne and Drac ; of Veneon or St Christopher ; and the Ro-
manche ; and of which the existing remains are the glaciers
of Tirbal, Gibernay, and the Grand-Chadou. It was likewise
i;he receptacle of the ice which descended from Mount Pel-
voux and Mont de P Homme, the remains of which still feed
the sources of the Romanche. It also received those accu-
mulations of ice, which, by the valleys of the Plainel, Breda,
Beins, Azeins, &c. reached the Bocs-du-G rand-Glacier, which
they still cover. But even from much greater distances than
these were masses of ice conveyed into the bason of Grenoble ;
the Boche-Michel and Boche-du-Bonche, near Mount Cenis,
still bear the remains of glaciers which descended to that of the
Isere by the great valley of the Arc. The portion of the north-
east of these deposits, under the name of the glacier oi Grand-
Farey, supplies the sources of the Averole, a tributary of the
Arc ; and the portion to the south-west or the glacier of Lamet^
is the origin of the Cenise, which discharges itself into the Dora
Riparia, one of the tributaries of the Po. Finally, the country
around Grenoble had further to receive all the masses of ice
which descended from the elevated valleys of Thoron and the
Isere, and of which the glacier of Planteri, which feeds the
first of these streams, and that of Montets or the Col de la
Seigne, which sends the waters produced by its melting into
the Isere, and is not above two leagues and a half from Mont
Blanc, are remains which, along with those mentioned, and
many others besides, indicate the immense power and extent
which a glacier formed by the union of so many others, must
have possessed in the valley of the Graisivaudan and the lower
part of the course of the Isere.

Between Sapey and the Grande Chartreuse, we likewise meet
with small valleys, narrow but deep, surrounded on all
sides by very elevated escarpements of large erratic blocks,
which no current of water could have transported to the situ.

80 M. Renoir on the Traces of Ancient Glaciers.

ations tliey occupy ; for, according to the divers characters of
the rocks forming these blocks, it would have been necessary
that the current should have been capable of conveying some
of them, without allowing them to touch the earth, from the
first chain which extends in the direction of Vizille to Al-
levard, to beyond the calcareous mountains of Chartreuse, a
medium distance of five leagues ; others of them, from the
chain which separates the department of the Isere from that
of the High Alps and La Maurienne, by causing them to pass
over the first and supporting them at this great height during
their passage, which, at the shortest, could not be less than
six leagues, while, in many cases, it would amount to twelve.
Finally, others, belonging from their nature to the central
chain of this part of the Alps, I mean the chain which passes
Mont Blanc to the east of Brian9on, would necessarily have
to be transported, at the least, over a space of fifteen leagues,
and the greater number over a space from twenty-two to
twenty-six leagues ; and that too, while being constantly sup-
ported at an absolute medium height of about 3000 metres,
and about 2700 metres above the town of Grenoble, for they
would have to be carried over the two chains of which we
have spoken. It is to be observed that the medium height of
the second of these being sensibly the same as that of the cen-
tral chain, these enormous masses of blocks could not even
deviate in the smallest degree from their course, without be-
ing arrested by the second chain and precipitated into the
Alpine valleys.

If we suppose that the erratic blocks have come from other
parts of the Alps, the difticulties of height will be still the
same, and even more numerous, and the passage longer.

Lastly, We may here repeat the fact, which is in such ob-
vious contradiction to the system of transportation of erratic
blocks by great currents, namely, that these blocks and large
rolled pebbles are scattered, in a fan-shaped form, not only
around the Alps, but also around all the other systems of
mountains where they have been observed ; so that all these
mighty currents must have originated from the very summit
of each chain, and radiated in every direction ; which is alto-
gether incomprehensible. Besides, according to the commu-
nications we have received from recent scientific travels, this

M. Renoir on the Traces of Ancient Glaciers, 81

order of phenomena seems to have been repeated at the same
epoch over the whole surface of the earth : whence, then, could
all these immense currents be derived %

The reasons we have stated, and others which we shall still
adduce, lead us almost irresistibly to regard the erratic blocks
which we meet with in the bottom and on the sides of the
small valleys of the district of Chartreuse, as having been de-
posited there by an immense glacier, which, in the last geo-
logical epoch, descended from the summit of the Alps and
filled the valley of Graisivaudan. In this country, accordingly,
the traces of ancient glaciers are numerous. We meet with
the remains of moraines, with their blocks, in almost all the
valleys ; at the outlet of that of Guier Mort, at Fourvoirie ;
along and to the north of the road from St Laurent-du-Pont
to Voreppe ; in the valley of the Romanche, near the inn of
the " Trois Dauphins," below which polished surfaces are to be
seen ; to the west of the road from Grenoble to La Mure ; in
the neighbourhood of the three Lakes, &c. But it was parti-
cularly when I left Grenoble to repair to Lyons, by Vienne,
at the outlet of the valley of the Isere between Moirans and
Rive, that I fell in with two lines of enormous moraines, whose
extent indicates that of the glaciers by the oscillations of
which they were formed. Beyond Rive, other remains in an
imperfect state of preservation appeared, but soon nothing
more was to be seen than an extensive plain of sand and rolled
pebbles, of the nature of the Alpine rocks. It may be ob-
served, that in proportion as we retire farther from the Alps,
the quartz-pebbles become more frequent, until they prevail
almost exclusively, as if this kind of rock had been more able
than the rest to resist the friction and other causes of destruc-
tion. It is not till much later, and when the melting of the
ice had carried back the limits of the glaciers as far as the
mountains, that the great rivers which flowed from them, and
of which those w^e now behold are only the remains, began to
mark out and fix their beds in these moveable deposits, taking
a&vantage of the kind of valleys which the moraines leave be-
tween them, or other accidents of the surface. We may men-
tion as an example the Isere, which, issuing from a fracture
in the calcareous mountains between Fourcy and Voreppe,
turns suddenly to the west, then to the south, in order to flow
through, in its course towards Saint Marcelin, the kind of void

VOL, XXXI. NO. LXI.^JVLY 1841. F

82 M. Renoir on the Traces of Ancient Glaciers.

left by the receding ice between these mountains and the mo-
raine-like deposits.

From what has been said, it will be seen that we regard the
glaciers now existing in the fractures and elevated valleys of our
mountain-chains as being the remains of generally distributed
ice. AVe mentioned last year the reasons which induce us to
believe that these remains would disappear during our era. To
these proofs we think it proper to add the following reflection :
M. Studer has affirmed, in his Notice regarding some Pheno-
mena of the Diluvian Epoch, that, having ascended with M.
Agassiz the crest of the Riffel, which is 500 feet above the
upper part of the glacier of Gornerin, — a height which the
glacier can never be supposed to have reached' since the com-
mencement of the present epoch, — they saw the surfaces of
rocks polished like a mirror, and covered with furrows and
striae nearly horizontal, and of a nature entirely similar to those
in contact with the glacier itself.

This glacier, therefore, has formerly occupied this extreme
height. But the upper portion, being less massive, and ex-
posed throughout its whole surface to the combined actions of
the sun and currents of Avarm air, has disappeared. The ad-
ditions made to it by the colds of winter could not compensate
for its loss in the summer. The portion still remains which
is enclosed within the walls of the rent or small valley, and
this melts more slowly, because not exposed to the action of
the agents mentioned but at its surface only, the other faces
being protected from the warm winds by the rocks which li-
mit and support them. This nucleus, whose mass cannot be
below the temperature of zero, congeals, every summer night,
the water produced by rains or the melting of the ice during
the day by the heat of the sunr The snow which falls during
the winter is partly retained there throughout the spring, and
even summer, by alternate freezing and melting, which, by
transforming what remains of the snow into new ice and at-
taching it to the old, thus repairs a part of the loss which the
mass sustains every year by meteoric actions. ^

A proof that it is the property of the nucleus of a glacier
never to have a temperature below zero, and which retards
its destruction, is, that this nucleus, in all glaciers, descends
much below what is called the line of perpetual snow ; and that
the same xnasses, melting all the time, although slowly, and

M, Renoir on the Traces of Ancient Glacien. 83

moving downwards, do not fail to maintain their existence for
many years, and that at levels sufficiently low to permit us to
see a vigorous vegetation going on at their sides on declivities
of the same elevation as themselves. If, then, the upper por-
tions of our glaciers were once melted, no others would be
formed where they are now so extensive. Of this we have a
proof in the ridges visited by MM. Studer and Agassiz, on
which, notwithstanding their height being so favourable for
such an occurrence, no permanent glacier is forming, nor will
any other ever exist.

The slow but continual diminution of portions enclosed in
the manner formerly mentioned, is shewn very evidently by
the height of the polished and striated walls which rise above
them. The slipping from a higher to a lower situation is ren-
dered still more obvious by the moraines left behind. The
magnitude of these moraines diminishes rapidly from the most
ancient, which are immense, and most remote from the foot of
the glaciers, to those recently formed, which are very small.
Taken altogether, they form a scale for measuring the pro-
gress, of destruction which the ice has undergone, and for
comparing their ancient mass with the little which now re-
mains to us. In our opinion, the diminution of glaciers is
evident, and their complete disappearance at a period more or
less remote is unquestionable.

Since masses of ice, at a certain epoch, could be perma-
nently formed even to the very foot of mountains, and since
now they can no longer reproduce themselves in a permanent
manner even at their summit, we perceive to what a degree
the temperature of the earth's surface must have been elevated
from the time of their first melting to the present ; a conside-
ration which comes in support of the system which we have
presented in the note alluded to.

We have stated that communications received from men of
science engaged in recent expeditions, seem to confirm the
reasons adduced for believing in the existence of a universal
ice, at a period immediately preceding that of tlie human spe-
cies. In fact, these communications seem at once to shew how
very slight w as the chance of erratic blocks being conveyed
by floating icebergs from the northern regions during the pro-
gress of a great debacle ; since M. C. Martens, member of the
Northern Scientific Commission, says, that in two voyages (to

84 M. Renoir on the Traces of Ancient Glaciers.

Spitzbergen) t/iei/ never saw blocks transported by floating
tnasses of ice ;* and M. Eugene Robert, his colleague, states
that only once, at one o'clock on the morning of 18th July
1838, every one on board the corvette La Recherche saw
floating ice covered with pebbles andsand.\ However, in these
regions, according to the report of M. C. Martens, the coasts
are formed of steep rocks, against which the sea floats in sum-
mer. Every year some of these rocks necessarily fall, parti-
cularly at the time when the ice begins to melt, and a great
quantity of blocks and fragments of rocks are thus strewed on
the still frozen surface of the sea. A kind of breaking up of
the ice takes place every spring, and the numerous masses
then set afloat must convey all these blocks to a distance.
How comes it to pass, then, that none of them are seen % It
is undoubtedly because the enormous weight of these masses
of rocks, scattered at hazard over the icebergs, inevitably gives
an inclination to their surface which causes the blocks to slide
into the sea. Besides, the icebergs, while floating, often come
into collision with each other, and the shock which thel^locks
receive tends to produce the same result. In order to explain
the transportation of erratic blocks by floating ice, M. Eugene
Robert has recourse to the hypothesis that, at this epoch, the
ocean covered almost all the north of Europe. It must needs have
been the case, likewise, that, at the same period, a sea extended
over the south, and another over Algiers and Atlas, where
M. Le Blanc has recently ascertained the existence of abun-
dance of blocks. However, we know that none of the depo-
sits of this period have a marine character. And could the
seas, moreover, bordering on the tropics, be likewise traversed
by floating icebergs ? This latter hypothesis brings us back to
the subject of a universal ice.

M. Robert has observed that primitive blocks, rolled and
rubbed, are collected in great numbers on the left bank of the
Neva, where it issues from the lake Ladoga, and on the margin
of the lake, at the same point, but none are to be seen on the
opposite bank. We are of opinion that this disposition of the
blocks is owing to their having been deposited by glaciers an-
terior to the formation of the lake and river ; in a word, that
they are nothing else than a moraine which has directed the

* Bulletin de la Societe G^ologique de France, t. xi. p, 288.
t Ibid. p. 209.

M. Renoir on (he Traces of Ancient Glaciers. 85

course of the Neva, and formed a dike for it on its issuing
from the lake. The seat of these glaciers was probably among
the ramifications of the Scandinavian Alps of which M. Robert
speaks.

With the exception of the seat of the glaciers, which can-
not be the same, we may perhaps apply all that has been said
to the line of blocks to be seen between Wol-Racoulskaia and
Copatchewskaia, on one of the banks of the Dvvina, and which
M. Robert himself calls a true moraine, composed of enormous
calcareous blocks scarcely rubbed on the angles, mingled with
other large primitive blocks, while none are to be seen on the
other bank.

When large streams of water are unrestrained in their move-
ments, they spread the materials which they transport en 7?tasse,
and form a soil sometimes slightly undulated, but they have
never the tendency to form small hills. If, then, a great ca-
taclysm had taken place, it would have spread sand, pebbles?
and erratic blocks, if capable of transporting the latter, over
the great plains of Russia in a uniform manner. Now M.
Robert speaks of a sol d'alterrissemenl, which conlains a greater
or less quantity of rolled pebbles and erratic blocks, and which
is generally exitibited in small hills very close to each other ^
Tvhich prevail bettveen the lakes Ladoga and Onega, and from
Ladei?ioie-F6le as far as Wytegra, a small system of monticules
which are the only hills to be seen between St Petersburgh and
Archangel, in a space of 300 leagues* This sol d^ atterrisse"
ment, and numerous small hills close to each other, are proba-
bly nothing else than moraines. Thus they are parallel with
each other, since M. Robert says that they run nearly in the
same direction as the limestone of Bourkowa : now this paral-
lelism is one of the characters of groups of moraines. The
same thing may be said of the ?iumerous small hills of yellowish
sand in tlie canton of Pargolowo, which likewise contains pri-
mitive blocks, since he remarked one of enormous size and
quadrilateral shape, scarcely rubbed on the edges, and resting
lightly on the sand.

Should it be thought that the comparison we have made,
from a mere description, between the pebbly hills and lines of
blocks in Russia, and the remains of our ancient moraines,
is somewhat questionable, it will doubtless be found more cer- .

~ '■ ■ . ■ ■ . .. » - ■ . — ■■ ■» ■

* Bulletin dc la i^9ci Jed GOologiquo ck FtanQo, t. xii pi 3l3.

86 M. Renoir on the Traces of Ancient Glaciers^

tain when made between the polished surfaces of these coun-
tries and those which, in the southern parts of Europe, so
clearly indicate the ancient existence of glaciers. M. Robert
says,* " I traversed all the southern coast of Finland, from
Helsingfors as far as Abo, passing across the innumerable
small islands scattered along it. All of them, without excep-
tion, have been evidently covered by the sea 2ivA perfectly po-
lished, as well as the rocks on the coast, emn to a great dis-
tance into the interior of the country ^ We here repeat, that
in our opinion this perfect polish is the work of masses of ice
moving immediately over the surface of the rocks, in the same
manner as the presently existing remains of glaciers have po-
lished the rocks over which they move, and are daily continu-
ing to do so. What confirms us in this opinion is, that there
are numerous furrows, to use M. Robert's words, sometimes so
distinctly marked that they can be perceived at some distance,
especially when the surface of the rock is wet. In regard to
the glaciers of the Alps, we often see on the rocks which they
have long since left, entire surfaces covered with fine striae,
which may, in like manner, be seen at some distance, even
when the rocks are dry. If, then, the furrows of the polished
rocks of Finland are striae, it appears to us that there can be
no doubt that its surface was formerly covered with ice. These
furrows, besides, are all parallel ; for M. Baer affirms that he
never met with a single example of a furrow crossing another.
In addition to this, it appears from M. Robertas report, that
they all run in the general direction of the valleys, and cross
all the strata indiscriminately without regard either to their
direction or hardness ; for, after having stated that these fur-
rows are generally parallel to the laminae of the gneiss rocks,
M. Robert adds (in the same page) '* In short, it is worthy of
remark that the veins of quartz or of other substances usually
cross the direction of the erosions at an angle more or less ap-
proaching to a right angle, and never run in a parallel direc-
tion with them, as takes place in lamellated rocks." All these
circumstances taken together, prove that these furrows have
been tracedby hard bodies moving in concert at fixed distances,
that is to say, attached to the same solid body which prevented
them yielding to any obstacles they might encounter.

- "-* Fulletin de la Society G^ologique de France; t. xi. p. 328.

M. Renoir on the Traces of Ancient Glaciers, 87

We are persuaded that in northern regions the polish of the
surfaces left by the ice is more perfect and much better pre-
served than in other climates, because the melting of the ice
must have commenced at a much later period, and therefore
the polish has not been so long exposed to the destructive ac-
tion of the atmosphere. M. Robert in fact found it unim-
paired.

The accumulation of the remains of mammoths, mentioned
by M. Robert, affords still another ^oof that ice at one time
covered the whole surface of the earth, and the remains of
which yet bury tvy^o entire zones around the two poles. This
traveller states, that the fossil bones are found principally in
the course of the river Kara. This river, however, relatively
speaking, has not a long course, and, with the exception of
Nova Zembla, and a portion of the country of the Samoyedes,
it is in the most northern part of Asia. Every one is aware
that the congeners of these elephants are now to be found only
in the lowest latitudes, and it is generally admitted that a
change of temperature must have taken place in the climates
of the north. To what is it owing, then, that this river has
become the most abundant repository of these ancient pachy-
dermata, seeing that it is narrow and completely enclosed on
the west by the Poyas mountains, which terminate at the sea,
and form the northern part of the Oural mountains ; on the
south and east by the Samoyede chain, which is only a branch
of the Poyas mountains, likewise terminating at the sea, and
comprised between the sea of Kara and the bay of Obi ; and
on the north by the gulf of Erouwei, or the sea of Kara ? If
these huge animals had been swept along by currents of water
coming from the south, these currents could never have carried
them over the two chains enclosing the basin of the Kara,
and would have deposited them on the western side of the first
and the southern side of the second, at the foot of which they
would have been found imbedded in the alluvium. We can
no longer entertain the notion which has been started, that
these elephants, of which the species does not exist anywhere
else, have migrated in particular circumstances, and by a spoil-
taneous movement, from the southern regions of Asia ; for even
in that case they would have had greater difficulty in pene-
trating to the banks of the Kara than to any other place what-
ever.

88 M. Renoir on the Traces of Ancient Glaciers,

The most natural explanation, — the most probable cause of
the accumulation of the remains of elephants in the compara-
tively contracted basin of the river Kara, is to be found in the
manner in which ice extended itself over the earth. We know
from the instructions of the celebrated Cuvier, that the fossil
species of the north of Asia approaches nearer, in every re-
spect, to that which now inhabits the southern regions of that
part of the globe, than the species which is to be found in the
eastern quarters of Africa. We are also aware that those of
Asia are known in commerce by the name of mountain ele-
phants, because they inhabit elevated places in preference,
while those of Africa are more inclined to frequent the banks
of rivers and lakes. We may tlierefore suppos,e, without in-
curring the charge of making too bold a conjecture, that the
species of whose remains we now speak also inhabited moun-
tains.

When it happened, then, in consequence of the continual cool-
ing of the terrestrial mass, that its surface, a little more distant
from the sun than it is now, began to freeze, the ice (as we
have already had occasion to state in our notice in vol. xi.
of the Bulletin, page 148) accumulated at first on the high
parts of the mountains, then on those less elevated, which the
elephants were then obliged to abandon. At a later period,
the ice continuing to descend in proportion as the cold in-
creased, the mammoths entirely left the m-ountains and sought
liquid water and a milder temperature in the plains. Although
in a state of suffering and decline, they might still live and
propagate for a long time in these plains ; but at last, sur-
rounded on all sides by continually increasing cold, they ne-
cessarily perished.

Before their destruction, a portion of these animals, always
in search of a less severe climate, and urged on by all the ne-
cessities of life, must have descended to the shores of the sea.
The northern direction of the rivers in the north of Asia, would
prove no reason for preventing the elephants from descending
them, because at that period the solar influence was less, and
climates were scarcely, or not at all, distinctively marked.
. There was no inducement for them to reascend, for by so do-
ing they would again rise to the regions of snow.

By avoidhig the mountains, the greater part of these pacliy*

rmaia h&d ti) trtiVeriie siitctvdlve pkint vviit«ji'«id b^ th« Dwintt

M. Rouoir on the Traces of Ancient Glaciers. 89

and its tributaries, the Irtisli, Obi, Yeniasei, Lena, &c. They
dispersed themselves throughout these plains, where their re-
mains are now found scattered ; but they are most abundant
on the shores of the Icy Sea, and at the mouths of the rivers.
Now, all those which descended the northern side of the Samo-
yede chain, which are connected, without interruption, with
the northern part of the Poyas mountains, and all those which
descended the eastern side of this northern portion, were
placed, as I have stated, between the sides of a small triangle
formed by the two chains and the southern side of the gulf of
Erouwei, and accumulated, as it were, in the small basin of
the river Kara. Such is the cause of a greater number of the
remains of mammoths being found in this contracted basin than
in any other spot, notwithstanding, or rather in consequence
of, its insulated character.

The peculiarity of these bones being accompanied with large
trunks of trees still jwssessinr/ all their branches^ proves that
tlie animals with which these are associated have not been de-
stroyed by a violent catastrophe, as, for example, great cur-
rents of water or mud ; for in that case the trees could not have
preserved, at most, more than afewof their larger branches, and
in most instances they would have retained none, as we had
occasion to observe at the debacle of the Dent-du-midi,in the
Valais, in September 1835 ; an occurrence at the same time
not comparable to a great catastrophe. This peculiarity, on
the contraiy, proves that they have fallen under a slow and
gradual change, which has tranquilly destroyed both animals
and vegetables. Subsequently, on the melting of the ice,
they may, indeed must, have been taken up by the torrents
produced by this general melting, but by no means with the
violence of a universal deluge. Finall}^ it is scarcely neces-
sary to repeat that the perfect preservation of many of these
animals is, according to our most eminent naturalists, a cer-
tain proof that they must have been seized by the frost imme-
diately after their death.'

We greatly regret that the observations made by M. Robert
in Sweden and Norway have not reached us ; we should un-
doubtedly have found in them numerous proofs in support of
the views we are advocating.

Since we laid before the Society, in the notice formerly
(ilUded to, (.^Ur u]^>inluu$ 911 the probable tfau;»« wf th« uQcieni

90 M. Renoir on the Traces of Ancient Glaciers.

existence of a general ice, it has been objected, that there is no
necessity for admitting cataclysms in order to explain the disap-
pearance of the species of animals whose remains are found in
the debris of the diluvium, as it may be accounted for by the
progress of civilization. We have by no means been understood.
Our intention was not to explain the disappearance of mammoths
from the north of Europe and Asia ; we wished only to shew
that the complete destruction, in the north, of animals whose
congeners have been organized for high temperatures, and the
actual presence of their remains in the Polar ice, went to
support our hypothesis. Further, the scarcely commenced
civilization among the Samoyedes and the scanty population
of these countries, were not very likely, particularly at the
period in question, to cause mammoths to disappear com-
pletely. This species, moreover, must have existed there only,
and could not have gone, like others displaced by civilization,
to take refuge in other regions, since traces of it are nowhere
else to be found.

It has been further objected that " fossil elephants could not
have lived in those parts of Siberia where they are now buried,
on account of the scarcity of vegetables to serve them for food,
and that the circumstances attending the deposit of these
animals shew that they have been enclosed successively and by
slow actions.'^'' It has not been observed that we stated that
the life of these animals terminated an epoch when the tem-
perature of the earth's surface was still sensibly the same in
every part, and that the cold was only beginning to be felt.
The Siberia of which we speak had therefore no resem-
blance to the present ; there vegetation was as fine and vi-
gorous, and perhaps even more so, than that we now see be-
tween the tropics. No congelation had hitherto occurred on the
earth. "With regard to the mode of their deposition, it may be
the result of the action of the great waters necessarily pro-
duced by the general melting of the ice, which must have fre-
quently moved the remains of these animals.

All the phenomena to which the name of diluvian is given,
and to explain which such great efforts have been made with-
out any satisfactory result, may be made to agree, and in a
very natural manner, with the hypothesis of a general ice.
We shall again refer, on this subject, to an example which we
did nothing more than point out to the society at its meeting

M. Renoir en the Traces of Ancient Glaciers, 91

at Grenoble, and the idea of which was suggested to us by M.
Le Blanc. We allude to the enclosure of fossil animals in
caverns, the cause of which has been so much disputed, but
which admits of a perfect explanation by the theory of a
general and permanent ice. It is obvious that animals must
have fled from the latter as long as they were in a condition
to do so, in search of places not yet covered with snow or ice,
and capable of affording a shelter to beings which, organ-
ized for a higher temperature, must have suffered greatly from
cold. They must, therefore, have sought for caverns, and
taken refuge in them in great numbers. The amount of indi-
viduals, accordingly, of every species whose remains are met
with, is so great, that in certain cases it is difficult to conceive
how the caverns could contain the whole nearly at the same
time. It has been remarked that these caverns contain the
remains of animals of too large a size to have entered by their
openings, which are generally rather narrow. These remains
in fact belong to those which, from being unable to find refuge
in such places, were the first to perish by the cold. Their
bodies served, for a longer or shorter period, as food for the
carnivora, which dragged fragments of them into the caverns.
Being capable of subsisting at the expense of other animals,
the carnivora must have survived them, but they were at last
reduced to the necessity of devouring each other, as is proved
by certain bones of carnivora bearing marks of the teeth of
other animals of the same tribe, which had gnawed them.
It would be of importance, for the complete solution of this
question, to endeavour to ascertain if carnivora have been
devoured in their caves by beings of the same species ; which
may be determined in caverns where the remains of only a
single carnivorous species have been found.

If these animals, as has been alleged, took refuge in caverns
while trying to escape from a great inundation, it would not
be easy to explain why such of their cotemporaries as did not
enter the caverns have been at the same time embedded in
the ice. Besides, the opening of the caverns being in general
of little elevation compared with the summits of the moun-
tains, the animals, alarmed and driven from the lower to the
higher places by the waters, would not have entered them ;
they would necessarily, from the instinct of self preservation
alone, endeavour to ascend as high as possible. If we sup-

92 M. Renoir on the Traces of Ancient Glaciers.

pose that, on the contrary, they receded slowly on the increase
of the water, and without alarm, entering the caverns when
the water had reached their level, they would have been
drowned there before having time to devour each other ; for
if all the various species entombed in these common recep-
tacles killed each other only from antipathy, the bones of the
carnivora would not be gnawed. With regard to the mud
which covers to a greater or less thickness the bottom of the
caverns in which these fossils are buried, it has evidently been
deposited by water. Its formation is very simply explained
by considering that the numerous and powerful torrents which
escaped from all parts of the melted ice, covering the moun-
tains to heights generally much more elevated than the open-
ings of the caverns, must have penetrated into all the crevices
and gaps of the mountains, and then into the caverns, inun-
dating them for a long time.

It will be found, on a close examination, that every thing
in the present state of the surface of the globe concurs in de-
monstrating to us the ancient existence of general ice. It is
of great importance to science to establish this grand truth.
It affords us at once, and in the most natural and complete
manner, an explanation of all the phenomena termed diluvian^
the cause of which has remained unknown up to the present
time, and which had been vaguely referred to a universal in-
undation. The latter did not in other respects answer the
conditions of the problem, and its physical impossibility is clearly
ascertained.*

Notices of Earthquake-Shocks felt in Great Britain^ and espe-
cially in Scotland^ with inferences suggested hy these notices
as to the causes of such Shocks. By David Milne, Esq.,
F.R.S.E., M.W.S., F.G.S., &;c. Communicated by the
Author.

There seems to be no class of phenomena so intimately
connected with the laws which belong to the physical consti-
tution of our globe, or which so directly lead to a knowledge
of its interior structure, as those exhibited by volcanoes and
earthquakes. But, on the other hand, there is no depart-
ment of ph} sical science, over which, unfortunately, there
«i«i. ■ ■■■■■■. — ^ — . , ,

* fiulkiin d« k S^ocicW Ccologique d« Jt'rancG, Fcv. 1C41, p. 68*

Mr Milne on Earthquake'Shocks felt in Great Britain, 93

hangs so deep a cloud of mystery. Some philosophers think,
that, in the subterranean temperature of the earth, increas-
ing as it does about one degree of Fahrenheit for every forty
or fifty feet in descending from the surface, there is a per-
fectly sufficient cause for the outburst of volcanic fires and of
molten lava, which they derive from an intensely and per-
manently heated nucleus. Others, again, contend that, by
chemical agents alone, acting in certain parts of the globe,
the evolution of heat and its accompanying phenomena may
be accounted for : and this last class of philosophers is sub-
divided into two sections — one relying on the decomposition
of Avater, and the other on that of atmospheric air, penetrat-
ing down from the surface to the interior of the earth, and
there forming combinations w^hich give rise to these pheno-
mena.

It is natural that there should be much vague and opposite
speculation, regarding the nature of forces which are them-
selves far beyond the reach of observation. It is only by
watching the effects of these forces under every modification
exhibited on the earth's surface, and especially by comparing
the phenomena, which occur (whether simultaneously or not)
in regions of the earth differing in geological structure, and
far apart from each other, that a knowledge of their true na-
ture can be acquired.

It is in foreign countries, that the British geologist has
hitherto been in the practice of searching for and observing
the indicia of volcanic action ; — for it seems to have been
thought that the phenomena were unsatisfactory or unworthy
of attention, unless accompanied with eruption. But if, as is
now generally admitted, active volcanoes serve the purpose of
safety-valves, to give ready vent to the subterranean forces,
the effect of these forces on the earth's surface ou":ht to be
greater where no volcanoes exist. At all events, and even
though the forces themselves are in all places of precisely the
same nature, it is evident that in non-volcanic countries, their
mode of operation must be in many respects materially diffe-
rent.

If these remarks be well founded, it is matter of regret
and reproach to British geologists, that, furnishing as their
own country does, frequent opportunities of observing the
occurrence and the operation of volcanic action, no at-

94 Mr Milne on Ear thquake^Shocks felt in Great Britain.

tempt has been made to record the observed phenomena, or
point out the inferences which they seem to warrant. The
results which have been already derived from the register of
shocks kept at Comrie in Perthshire, since October 1839, are
very important, and fairly warrant the presumption, that much
valuable information might be derived from the phenomena
observed at earlier periods, and in all parts of the country.
Impressed with this conviction, the author has endeavoured to
rescue from oblivion that information ; and he rejoices to find
that the expectation which prompted the inquiry, has been
fully realized. The historical register which he now presents
as the first fruit of his researches, will be admitted by every
one who peruses it, to contain data from which important re-
sults may be derived.

It is proper, however, to premise, that this register, com-
piled as it has been chiefly from notices in magazines and
other periodicals, must not be too implicitly relied on for the
correctness of every particular fact related in it. The value of
the register consists in its presenting a great body of evidence
to the occurrence of facts similar in character, as accompany-
ing earthquake-shocks in all parts of the country, and it is only
in so far as it does exhibit facts possessing such corroboration,
that reliance is claimed for it, as a safe foundation for philo-
sophical inference.

It is proper here to say, in acknowledgment of the sources
from which some of the information in this register has been
derived, that, with regard to the Comrie shocks, most of them
are given as recorded by the Rev. Mr Gilfillan, a very intel-
ligent clergyman who resided for about thirty years in that
town. He was in the practice of noting in a private journal
that he kept, not only the dates of any shocks which occurred,
but also any striking effects or appearances which accompanied
them. This practice was so well known, that the wags in his
neighbourhood gave him the title of " Secretary to the Earth-
quakes." Extracts from Mr Gilfillan' s journal have been
most obligingly furnished to the author by his son, who is
now a clergyman in Stirling ; and a very important letter by
the " Secretary" himself, addressed to Sir Thomas Dick
Lauder in .July 1817, will be found embodied in the register.
To Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, the author is farther indebted
for various extracts from newspapers and other periodicals, of

Mr Milne on Earthquake- Shocks felt in Great Britain. 96

the remarkable earthquake-shock which, in 1816, agitated the
north of Scotland, and, among other effects, rent the spire of
Inverness Town-Hall ; — of which shock, an interesting account
was written and published by Sir Thomas in the Annals of
Philosophy for 1816 and 1817. To his liberal kindness, the
author is likewise indebted for the use of materials, which he
had been collecting for the composition of a full chronological
list of all the shocks both in England and in Scotland,
which were noticed in the pubhcations of the last century.
Professor Forbes was also good enough to procure from
Dr Forbes of Chichester, a printed report of the shocks
which were so frequently felt in that part of England, during
the winter of 1833-4. To the materials thus furnished by his
friends, and for which his acknowledgments are now tendered,
tlie author has made considerable additions, derived partly
from notices in different publications, partly from the relation
of individual observers. In the historical register thus formed,
he has arranged in chronological order the earthquake-shocks
noticed in it ; and in his notice of each, he has shortly de-
scribed the effects and appearances related to have been ob-
served, in so far as these seemed to be of any importance.

Register of Earthquake-Shocks felt in Great Britain, from the year
1608 to October 1839 ; stating the exact dates of their occurrence,
and other particulars.
1608.
Nov. 8. People of Aberdeen, about 9 p.m., dreadfully alarmed by an
earthquake, on account of which a day of fasting and humi-
liation was appointed by the Magistrates and Clergy. The
particular sin, on account of which this scourge was thought
to have been sent, was salmon-fishing on Sunday ; and ac-
cordingly the proprietors of salmon-fishings were called before
the Session and rebuked. " Some," says the Session record,
"promist absolutely to forbear, both by himselfs & their
servands, in time cuming ; others promised to forbear, upon
the condition subcreyvant ; & some plainlie refusit any way
to forbear," &c.
166d.
June 19. At Oxford (England).

1683.
Sept. 17. Do. Do.

Oct. 0. In the midland counties of England,

1692.
Sept, 8. Loudon and Flandersr

96 Mr Milne on Earthquake- Shocks felt in Great Britain,

1703.

Nov. Lincoln.

Dec. 28. At Hull, 6'' 3' p.m. Weather warm and close. At Beverley,
South Dalton, Selbj, Lincoln. — (Lond. Phil. Trans.)
It heaved up chairs and tables, and made pewter dishes and
windows rattle. It shook whole houses, and threw down
part of a chimney. The shock came and went suddenly, and
was accompanied by a noise like wind, though it was then a
perfect calm. A little before the shock there was a violent
storm.
1707.

Oct. 25. At 3^ P.M., Earthquake at Shoreham, Tarring, Goreing, Arundel,
Havant, Chichester. Felt most strongly at sea-side : not felt
at all to the north of Downs, which run east and west. Un-
dulatory motion from E. to W. like a wave'. A bed standing
E. and W. pitched, whilst one standing N. and S. rolled, like a
ship.— (Trans. R. S. L.)
1731.

Oct. 8. At 3 A.M. at places mentioned under next iterrij there was a shock
of earthquake preceded by thunder. — (Trans. R. S. L.)
10. Earthquake at Bloxham, Northamptonshire, 4 miles SW. from
Anyho, at 4 a.m. Also at Bradford, and 4 miles west of
Banbury, 1 mile west of Aderbury, 1 mile east of Crowton,
1 mile north of Charlton. Not felt to S. or SE. A minute
after shock, great flash of lightning seen at Anyho. — (Trans.
R. S. L.) Directions more from E. to W. than from N. to S.

a732.

At Strontian, and along west coast of Great Britain. — (Gent.
Mag. V. XX.)
July n. Between 2 and 3. p.m. at Glasgow, a shock occurred which lasted
1".— (Gent. Mag.)
1734.
Sept. 25. At 11 A.M. at Portsmouth, Milton, and most parts of Shropshire ;
also at 3^ 50' p.m. at Lewis (Sussex), and along sea-coast for
20 miles.— (Gent. Mag. v, iv. 625.)
1736.
April 30. At midnight, and at 1 p.m. on 1st May, along the Ochil Hills,
there were two severe shocks, accompanied by a great noise
under ground. Several houses were rent, and people were
greatly alarmed. — (Gent, Mag. v. vi. 289.
1787.
Dec. 29. At Scarborough : valley formed ; ground on each side forced
up 6 or 10 yards.— (Trans. R. S. L.)
1788-9.

Dec. 30. In Yorkshire (West Riding), a sudden and violent shock.—
(Gent. Mag. v. ix. 45.)
1744.
Feb. 5. In Wales, a shock.— (Gent. Mag. v, xiv, 103.)

Mr Milne on Earthquake- Shocks felt in Great Britain, 97

1747.
July 1. Taunton, 10 or 11 p.m. Extended from sea to sea, t. e, from
S. Channel to Severn ; felt in every parish along this line, —
distance of 40 miles ; its breadth not much less, as it was felt
also at Exeter and Crookham. Direction of shocks, from
SE. to NW. Flashes of lightning at tune of earthquake. —
(Trans. R. S. L.)
1749.
Feb. 14. Leadhills in Scotland.

1750.
Feb. 8. London and Westminster at 12^ p.m. At Plymouth 1 p.m.
Not felt at Harwich or Colchester.
Person felt desk rise first under one arm, and next under other.
The '^ air very hazy and warm at the time." Motion of
ground from W. to E.
In London, eight several chimneys were thrown down and walls
rent. At Kingsbridge a second shock was felt half an hour
after the first. A shepherd at Kensington, heard the noise
rush past him, and instantly he saw the ground, a dry and
solid spot, wave under him like the face of the river ; the tall
trees of the avenue where he was, nodded their tops very sen-
sibly, and quivered. — (L. R. S. Tr. v. xlvi. ; Gent. Mag. v.
xxiii.)
9. Deptford, Greenwich, Gravesend, Paynesbridge (two shocks),
betwixt Rumney and Brentford, Coopersdale, near Epping^
Woodford, Walthamstone, Hertford, Highgate, Finchley
(not at Barnet) : weakly felt at Richmond in Surrey. Motion
from E. to W.
Not felt at Deal or Canterbury.

Felt at Eltham in Kent, at Chelsea (at 12^^ 40' p.m.), Fulham.
Seemed to terminate in west, 2 miles beyond Chelsea. Not
at Hounslow, Brentford, or Richmond, nor farther west than
Richmond.

State of Thermom. and Barom. in London.

Thermom. Barom.

At 2 p.m. on 6th February, 48*.0 Fahr. 29.14 inches.

7th, 48'^ 29.90 ...

8th, 64° 29.83 ...

9th, 65°* 29.97 ...

22d, 63

Extraordinary winter for warmth and dryness, thunder and
lightning : — wind generally S. and S W. for some months pre-
viously. The warmth on some days (especially on the 13th
inst.) was greater than in the previous June. — (L. R. S. Tr.
V. xlvi.)
Mar. 8. At 6^ a.m. Highgate, London, Hampstead (violent on river),
. Tooting, Merton, Miteham, Strcatham, Epsom, Croydon,

VOL. XXXI. NO. LXI. JULY 1841. O

.98 Mr Milne on Earthquake-Shocks fell in Great Britain,

1760, Claphani, Wandsworth (Thames), Fulham, Furnham, Stan-

more (but not 5 miles farther at Watford), Ilford, Norham,
Gubbins (Hertfordshire), and | mile NE. of Hatfield; 1 mile
W. of Hertford, but not at Hertford (north limit of shock),
Holland House and on Thames. Houses near river were
the most shaken. Motion from W. to E.

Near London, there was a continued and confused lightning
till within minute or two of shock ; dogs howled ; fish jumped
three feet out of water ; sound in air, preceded concussions ;
flashes of lightning and a ball of fire were seen, just before ex-
plosion.

The President of the Royal Society stated, that he did not on
this occasion perceive that lifting motion, which he was sen-
sible of on 8th February. But he felt very quick shakes or
tremors, in a horizontal direction, as it appeared to him.

A boatman on the Thames felt his boat receive a blow at the
bottom, and the whole river seemed agitated.

The Eev. Mr Pickering stated, that he was lying awake in his
bed, which stood N. and S. He first "heard a sound like
that of a blast of wind" — " I then perceived myself raised in
my bed, and the motion began on my right side, and inclined
me towards the left."

In the Temple Gardens (London), the noise in the air was
greater than the loudest report of cannon. At the same instant,
the buildings inclined over from the perpendicular several
degrees.

In London the general impression was, that the whole city was
violently pushed to SE., and then brought back again.

The sound preceding the concussions, resembled the discharge
of several cannon, or distant thunder in the air, and not a sub-
terranean explosion. Flashes of lightning were observed an
hour (before ?) and a vast ball of fire. A great deal of thunder
and lightning this winter in England, as well as frequent
meteors.

At Kensington, the bailiflT of Mr Fox, at 6^^ 15' a.m., heard
(when in the open air) a noise much like thunder at a distance,
which, coming from NW., grew louder, and gave a crack
over his head, and then gradually died away. The sky was
clear, and he saw no fire or appearance of lightning. Imme-
diately after the crack, the ground shook, and it moved like a
quagmire. The whole lasted a minute. — (Tr. R. S. Lond.)
Mar. 14. East Molesy in Surrey at 4 a.m.
... 18. Portsmouth, I before 6 p.m. Isle of Wight (where most violent),
7 or 8 miles to east of Havant ; 7 miles west of Titchfield ;
Guernsey and Jersey ; Hackney, near London, just after 6
P.M. ; East Sheen in Surrey, do. ; Bridport about C. p.m. Felt
very slightly at Bath.

At Portsmouth there was heard a great noise m the air, like the

Mr Milne on Earthquake-Shocks felt in Great Britain. ^

1750. firing of cannon, as on a rejoicing day, and at the same time
was felt a great trembling of the earth. (Gent. Mag. v. xx.) I
a paper in the Trans. Roy. Soc. London (xlvi. p. 650), it is
mentioned that in the Isle of Wight, the shock consisted of
three or four slow and deliberate vibrations in an E. and W.
direction. The whole was attended with a noise, like thunder
at a great distance. The shock lasted four or five seconds.

Mar. 19. Isle of Wight at aj p.m.
... 20. Do. do. 3 or 4 A.M.

April 2. Liverpool at 10 p.m., Chester ; Downing, near Holywell in Flint-
shire, at lOi P.M. It reached to Wrexham to south, and to
Lancaster to north (in all 70 miles). From Flintshire, to
Stockport and Altringham. The earthquake extended over a
district 40 miles N. and S., and 90 miles E. and W. Direc-
tion said to be NW. to SE.
A person went out into the open air during the shock, and saw
multitudes of blood red rays converging from all parts of the
heavens to one dark point ; but saw no luminous body. The
phenomenon disappeared in fifteen minutes. — (Gent. Mag. v.
XX. and xxiii.) A person at Liverpool who felt it says, " I was
in a sitting posture, and tlie motion I felt was like that of a
vessel falling from the top of a wave, and rising again upon the
next." Other observers concurred in this impression. — (Lond.
Phil. Trans. V. xlvi. p. 696.)
... 10. Wales.

May 4. Winbourne in Dorsetshire, at 10 a.m. There was a sudden
blow which shook the house very much, accompanied by a
noise like thunder. It was heard 20 miles round. Furniture
thrown down.

Aug. 23. At 6^^ 45' a.m, in Nottingham, Refford, Scofton, Taxford, &c.,
Grantham in Lincolnshire, Spalding, Newark, 30 miles to
NE. Motion from SE. to NW. Felt for 70 miles, and most
strongly on coast. This earthquake shook the people in their
beds, and made the windows jar. That morning, aud all the
day, was calm, — the sky very clear, and a bright sunshine.
For a fortnight before, the weather was mild and calm, and
one evening there was a deep red aurora. — (Gent. Mag. v. xx.
and xxiii. 456.)
In Lincoln, the shock was felt at 6'» 35' a.m., and the shock
moved N. by E.

Sept. 18. Portsmouth at 6 p.m. Also at Isle of Wight and Bath.
... 30. Before 1 p.m. at Newton (Northamptonshire) ; Culfordatl p.m.
about 4 miles from Bury in Suffolk ; Harborough about 12 ;
at Stamford Hall (Leicestershire) at 12i ; Ashby (Northamp-
tonshire) at 12^^ 45' ; Kilmarsh, in road from Northampton
to Harborough ; Peterborough ; — felt not much farther tbanr
Towccster.
Felt at Stockton, Leanungton, G miles from Warwick, but not

100 Mr Milne on Earthquake-Shocks fell in Great Britain.

1750. at Warwick ; Rugby, and thence entered Leicestershire, Ri-
gan in Derbyshire, or somewhere else in west, and passed off
through Lincolnshire and part of Cambridgeshire ; went
through Coventry, Derby, Nottingham, Newark; then east
to Towccster, Rowal, Kettering, Wellingborough, Oundle in
Northamptonshire, Uppingham and Okham in Rutland, Stam-
ford, Bourn, Grantham, Spalding, Boston, Lincoln, Holbeck,
Peterborough, Wisbeck ; then passed over whole breadth of
Ely Feu, and reached Bury in Suffolk, — in all 100 miles long
and 40 broad, and all shocked at same instant. Lasted only
a few seconds ; reached to south end of Derby, where very
weak. The direction of the motion was from W. or NW.
— to E. or SE. Some persons counted four pulses ; the
second or third strongest. The shock was scarcely perceived
by persons walking ; more by those standing, and most of all
by persons sitting ; and perceived more in the upper storeys
of houses, than in the lower storeys and cellars.
Part of an old wall in College Lane, at Kilmarsh, was thrown
down. A gentlewoman, sitting in a chair, was thrown down,
and the people ran out of church. At Leicester, the shock
was attended with a rushing noise ; the houses tottered, and
heaved up and down : some slates and part of a chimne}'^ fell;
also, some drinking glasses from shelves ; a child was shaken
out of its chair. — (G. Mag. v. xx. 473, and v. xxiii. p. 268.)
1753.
June 8. A strong shock, accompiinicd by a lifting and tremulous motion,
was felt at Skipton in Craven, Yorkshire ; Knutsford,
Cheshire, at 11 p.m.; Manchester between 11 and 12 p.m.
" Shock was accompanied and succeeded by a rushing noise
and explosion like gunpowder fired in the open air. The
weather was very calm, and the "sky red, intermixed with
black clouds." — (Scots Mag. v. xv. 307.)
... 22. Manchester at 11^^40'. Felt also at Oldham and Ratcliff, and

in Cheshire.
1754.

Apr. 19. York at 10 or 11 p.m.; Ripon at 11 p.m.; Hull; Stockton;
Whitby.
This shock was of the pulsatory kind, very regular and uni-
form, and lasted in some places 10" and in others 30". It
was attended with a rushing sound of the air. At Whitby
some doors were thrown open, and others were so squeezed,
that they could scarcely be opened. Birds in their cages
were thrown off their perches. Motion SW. to NE. (G.
Mag. V. XXV. 399.)
1755.

July 31. Between 6 and 7 a.m. at Rushdon in Northamptonshire ; a shock
which lasted 5' or 6'.

Aug* 1. At Althorp, Frodingham, Luddington, and Addingfleet, near

Mr Milne on Earthquake- Shocks fell in Great Britain, 101

1755. Ilumbcr; at Stamford 7 a.m.; at North Berwick (2 miles
west from it) at li p.m. Motion from S. to N. Great noise
preceded shock, like the report of several cannon. Came
from south, along hills. It shook the houses much, and part
of a wall fell. On the evening of following day a large ball
of fire seen near Stamford, which continued visible 7' or 8'.
Aug. 2. Ball of fire in sky seen for 7' or 8.'

Oct. 20. At Scalloway in Zetland. The sky being very hazy, as is usual
before thunder and lightning, there fell a black dust over all
the country, though in greater quantities in some places than
in others. It was very much like lamp black, but sraelled
strongly of sulphur. People in the fields had their faces and
hands and linen blackened bj' it. It was followed by rain.
The wind was at time SW.

The same phenomenon was observed in Orkney, where it re-
ceived the appellation of " black snow."
23. A shower of dust fell on a ship 25 leagues from Shetland.
Nov. 1. At Madeira at 9i a.m. There were three shocks (with a few
minutes between each) felt at Lisbon at 9^^ 35' or 40' a.m. The
sea rose on coast there, from 40 to 50 feet perpendicular in
three or successive waves. The sea retired first.

Felt at Cadiz just before 10 ; at Gibraltar at 10*^ 10' a.m.

Felt in Barbary at 10 a.m. (three shocks there).

At the Escurial, shock was felt about 10 a.m.

At Madrid, _ lo^i 30' a.m.

At Portsmouth. Ship in dock, at 104 a.m, suddenly pt7t7icd with
head deep in water, and immediately recovered. Dock-gates
forced open 6 inches. Other ships in a separate basin, felt
shock, and rolled violently.

Loch Lomond rose 2V feet at d\ a.m. and continued moving till
10} a.m. ,• two waves with interval of 5" between. A large
stone, which was lying in shallow water, was forced ashore.
Continued till 10'» 15' a.m. Loch Ness rose at 104 a.m. ; Lochs
Oich, Long, and Katrine, also agitated at same moment as
Loch Lomond. Shock was felt also at Leadhills (Dumfries-
shire). In Derbyshire, at Beelsborough, a loch afiecte^ from
S. to N. between 11 and 12 a.m. A number of other canals
and ponds in England similarly afiected.

At one of these places, geese swimming in a pond gave alarm
before water observed to be agitated.

Five shocks felt in Derbyshire lead-mines at 11 a.m. Hocks
ground one on another ; chasm opened 150 yards wide paral-
lel to range of lead vein.

Shocks of earthquake were felt at Hague, Lcyden, Brabant,
Rotterdam, &e. about 11 a.m. At Amsterdam, the barometer
suddenly sunk 2 inches. Hot springs at "Toplitz, betwixt 11
and 12, cast up such a body of water, that all the baths ovw*

102 Mr Milne on Earthquake- Shocks felt in Great Britain,

1765. flowed. About half an hour before^ springs had become

turbid, and stopped nearly a minute.
Hot springs at Bristol were coloured red, and rendered unfit

for use for some months.
Warm saline springs at Montier ceased to flow for 48 hours.

Waters afterwards flowed more copiously.
In Switzerland, the lakes of Leman and Brientz, &c. were about

10 A.M. observed three times to be agitated, causing the water
suddenly to flow towards and retire from their shores succes-
sively. At Basic, the barometer was 26.25 inches ; it had
rarely before been so low.

At Augsburg, it was said that at the moment of the shock a
number of magnets hanging, with weights suspended by their
attractive power, dropped their weights. In several parts of
Germany a derangement of the magnetic needle was said to
have been observed. — (Bertrand, Hist. Naturelle, 276 — 281.)

Mountains in Haut Yalais (mica-slate) opened, and threw out
hot water.

Felt at Tangiers and Morocco, where earth opened and swal-
lowed 8000 persons.

At Cadiz a wave about sixty feet high dashed on shore about

11 A.M., — and that was followed by three others.

This shock felt about 1 p.m. at Barbadoes and St Eustatia. The
sea rose twice in some islands, thrice in others from 8 to 12
feet perpendicular, and suddenly retired as much below its
usual height.
Waves rose at Cork. At Kinsale there was a wave5i feet high,
some say 6 or 7 feet high, which rolled into the harbour about
3 P.M. and other waves continued till 10 at night, though all
' the time quite calm.

At Swansea, a wave came 1^ mile up river, at 6^^ 45' p.m. after

2 hours' ebb, with a great noise. Fell back suddenly.
A vessel far west in the Atlantic experienced a vertical shock.

—(Phillips' Geology, v. ii. 208.)
In Cornwall, at St Ives, and at Hayle, at 4 p.m. there were three
I several waves which rushed on the land, and floated a vessel
that was nearly dry.
In the West Indies sea rose from 8 to 12 feet, violently agitated.
Dec. 31. About 1 a.m., "being awake in bed (at Kilmalcolm, 10 miles W.
of Glasgow), I felt about 7 or 8 shocks. The whole were
over in half a minute. The second shock was the greatest,
and fairly lifted me out of bed, jolted me to the head of it,
and then threw me back to where I lay before. The same
shock jostled a large chest so violently against the side of a
wall in another room, that it awoke a gentleman sleeping
there." — (Gent. Mag.)
Felt also at Glasgow, Greenock, Dumbarton^ and luchrinnan.

Mr Milne on Earthquake- Shocks felt in Great Britain, 108

1766.
Feb. 18. About 8 a.m. u shock felt at Dover, Margate, and London. Felt
also at Navarre, Versailles, Paris, Cologne, Aix-la-Chapelle,
at same hour as in England. Direction from SE. to NW.
Many houses thrown down at Cologne, and a great chasm
formed in the Eyffel. Barometer very low, thermometer very
high in Switzerland, where the shock was strongest. A storm
succeeded in twelve hours after. (Bertrand, 308.)
Agitation of Loch near Closeburn, which continued for several
hours, and alarmed the neighbourhood. (Day not mentioned
—but stated to have been in week before 21st.)
June 1. Ashford in Kent. Shock accompanied with a noise like report
of a cannon at some places, and sound of a waggon at other
places.
Nov. 17. Inverhallan (Argyleshire), Kilfinnan, Glendrent, Rothesay. The
shock was preceded by a noise like thunder at a great dis-
tance, and lasted about 20". Bells rung. Three shocks were
felt two days after.
1767.
July 15. At 7 P.M. at Falmouth. Attended with great noise. Came from
SW. Felt and heard in the mines of Cornwall at a depth of
70 fathoms. Shock extended from Scilly Isles as far east as
Liskeard, and as far north as Camelford. '^ Several small ris-
ings as big as molehills were observed in the morning, before
the shocks happened, on the sands of the beach, having a
black speck in the middle of the top, as if something had
issued from it. From one of the hollows between these
risings there issued a strong gush of water, about as thick as
a man's wrist. For a week before the shock the weather had
been warm and sultry. In one of the mines, the earth was
felt to ' move with a prodigious, swift, and apparently horizon-
tal tremor.' " (Gent. Mag. v. xxix. 146, and Tr. R. S. L.)
1768.
Jan. 24. Liugfield in Surrey, and Edinbridge in Kent, at 2 a.m. (Trans.
Roy. Soc. London).
1769.
Feb. 24. Cornwall, at Liskeard. A bright aurora that night.
1761.

Feb. 6. Shock at Sturminster between 11 and 12 p.m.
Mar. 31. Terceira. Sea rose to great height and fell again> leaving the
harbour dry.
Madeira. Shocks felt at 11^*35' a.m.

At sea, off rock of Lisbon, in Lat. 44° 8' N., and Long. 6" 10'.
Cape Finisterre E.SE., and 80 leagues distant, two violent
shocks felton board of a ship at 11*' 46' a.m.
Santa Cruz, in South Barbary, at noon — the shock was very

slight, and did no damage.
Lisbon, felt at noon precisely, last five minutes. Villa Franca

104 Mr Milne on Earthquake- Shocks felt in Great Britain.

1761. reduced to rubbish. Several rents and chasms formed in the

earth. Whole coast of Spain agitated.
Corunna, at noon, a violent shock. Many houses removed some

feet from where they were before, but none throw^n down.

" The consul's house has been moved 4 feet forward to the

sea, and its fronts to the water-side have changed better than

two points of the compass."
At Cork, at 12^^ 15', a shock felt, which made ground undulate

from E. to W., and vice versa. Shock more violent than on

1st November 1755.
At Lisbon, at 1^^ SO' p.m., the sea rose 6 feet perpendicular every

six minutes, and continued to ebb and flow thus till night.
At Kinsale the sea several times rose in a wave 2 feet high, at

6 P.M.

Dublin, at 6 p.m., near dead low water, the tide suddenly rose
about 2 feet, and then retired. This was repeated several
times.
Fort- Augustus, «/ 2 p.m } Loch Ness, betwixt 12 and 1 o'clock,
rose suddenly 2 feet, and continued for three-fourths of an hour,
alternately rising and falling. The water swelled most in the
middle of the loch. Several boats burst from their moorings.
At same time, a very uncommon low sound.
Amsterdam, shock between 1\ and 2 p.m., which made candela-
bras in the churches swing a foot from perpendicular, and
agitated the vessels in harbour.
At Barbadoes, at 4 p.m., there were fluxes and refluxes of the
sea, which about 8 p.m. seemed to abate, but at 10 p.m. consi-
derably increased, and continued till 6 next morning.
June 9. Shock at Sherborne, Shaftesbury, at ll'^ 45' a.m.
1764.

Nov. 6. At 4^1 15' a.m. slight shock at Oxford, and adjoining towns in
Glo'stershire and Berkshire. People tossed upwards in bed.
The agitation was greatest nearer the river. It Avas perfectly
calm and serene at the time of the shock. The wind soon
after became tempestuous. At Wallingford, the shock was
preceded for about a minute '' by an hollow rumbling wind.'*
—(Gent. Mag. xxx. iv. 643.)
17G7.
April 20. At Stirling and Alloa, at 9 o'clock, and another in a quarter of
an hour after.
1768.
Jan. 18. Flintshire. NW. to SE. It shook the houses very much, and

lasted 1|'.
Feb. 15. Llangollen, Flintshire.
May 15. Newcastle, at 4 p.m., two shocks, and very strong at Kendal,

Darlington, Middleton.
Oct. 24. Ruthven and Inverness, attended with great noise.
iJeci Sli \yoif€«8ter and Gle'ster/ bctwfeeii 5 and 0 p.Mi Man^ pcoplt irt

Mr Milne on Earthquake- Shocks felt in Great Britain, 105

17G8. a fright left tlicir houses. The cathedral was shaken. The

birds exhibited signs of terror. — (G. Mag. v. xxviii. 588.)
17G9.
June 15. At Dolgelly (N. Wales). Torrents of water said to have issued

from Cader Idris.
Nov. 14. Or about 14th. At Inverness a shock which threw down
houses, and killed several persons.
... 23. At 4 p. M., near Birmingham, attended with rumbling noise like
firing of distant cannon.
Dec. 29. Byton (Herefordshire), 8 a.m. Shock preceded by a rumbling
noise, which seemed to issue from the end of Shobdon's-Hill.
The river Lug, though very rapid, rose several inches, but
sunk again immediately. The tower of the church was split
in many places. Shock moved from E. to W. " A large rent
at the time of the shock opened at Shobdon's Hill, out of
which a considerable quantity of water now issues." — (Gent.
1771. Mag. V. xxxix. 50.)

April 29. Berkshire, at 5^ 30' p.m. People lifted up in their chairs. — (G.

Mag. V. xli. 233.)
Aug. 24. Cheshire.— (G. Mag. xli. 422.)
1773.

Jan. 31. Shock in Flintshire, emanating from mountain of Maelfamnia
(near Holywell), at 11 p.m., at which time the sound of huge
stones rolling down precipice was like thunder. At 12 p.m.
there was a loud clap, and the vertex of hill threw up in same
instant vast bodies of combustible matter ; liquid fire rolled
along the heaps of ruins. At the close of all, a great rent
was made in the mountain, whose breadth is 200 yards. The
summit of the hill tumbled into this opening, and the top ap-
pears level, which before was perpendicular.
April 15. At 2^ 15' p.m. two shocks at Guernsey, and in France.
... 16. At 4 A%M. do. ; also in Jersey (1 and 2 p.m.) ; and in Dorsetshire

on sea coast.
... 23. About noon at Jersey, and another at 11^ 30' p.m.
May 27. Parish of Buildway, in Shropshire, at 4 a.m. Great cracks 20
feet wide. In night, between 25th and 26th, in Shropshire,
a bed shook, and tea spilt out of a cup. On 27th, at 4 a.m.,
a small crack about 4 or 5 inches wide seen in ground, '' and
a field that was sown with oats was seen to heave up and roll
about like waves of water. The trees moved as if blown by
the wind, but the air was calm and serene. The river Severn
was agitated very much, and the current seemed to move up-
wards. The house shook. A great part of the land is in
confused heaps, and full of cracks, from 4 inches to more than
a yard wide. Several very long and deep chasms are formed
in the upper part of the land from 14 to 80 yards wide.
Hollows are raised into mounts, and mounts are reduced into
hoUoM'Sk'* t)bmtigc L.7^0i "At tim» «f ««ribquakc a suddvfl

106 Mr Millie on Earthquake- Shocks felt in Great Britain,

1773. gust of wind (apparently) beat against windows, as if a great
quantity of hail-shot had been thrown with violence at them."
July 3. Eton (Shropshire).

Sept. 8. At 9^^ 45' P.M., at Newton (Shropshire), Shrewsbury, Coalbrook-
dale, Wellington, Wolverhampton, Brewood, Oxford. Reach-
ed from Bath to Shrewsbury and Oxford, and to Swansea, in
Glamorganshire. Extended through Downing in Wales to
Shropshire. Motion E. to W.— (G. Mag. v. xlv. 432 to 451 ;
and Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond.)
1776.
Sept. 8. All the towns from Bath to Shrewsbury. Vibrations reached

from Swansea to Oxford. Motion from the East.
Oct. 28. In Northamptonshire and Leicestershire, at 10^ 45' p.m., and

balls of fire seen.
Nov. 27. At 8^1 15' Calais, Dover, Canterbury, Sandwich, Ashford,
Folkstone, and all over east of Kent. — (G. Mag. v. xlvi. 575.)
1777.
Sept. 14. Manchester, York, Lancaster, Liverpool, Chester, Birmingham,
Derby, strong on W. side, and weak on E. side of peak.
Bells rung. People at Manchester (where strongly felt)
thrown by shock into great consternation. It was attended
with a rumbling noise like distant thunder. The windows
and doors of some houses were burst open, and some chimneys
thrown down. A lady felt a stroke on top of her head, as if
of electricity. A gentleman who had marked his barometer a
few hours before, found that it fell a few lines at the time of
the shock ; but it rose immediately after to the same place.
Motion was from SW. to NE. — (G. Mag. v. xlvii. 458, and
Tr. R. S. L.)
1780.
Aug. 28. Flintshire, Denbighshire, Anglesea, Caernarvon, strongly at
Llanwrst across vale of Clwyd; Downing and Holywell. —
(G. Mag. V. 1. 637.)
... 29. Wales.
Dec. 9. Richmond, Yarm in Y'orkshire, Chester, Newcastle. People
lifted up by wave-like motion of earth, and then set down
again. The motion continued 6" or 8" at Leyburn. Atmo-
sphere dark and gloomy for several days before. Calm at
time. Barom. for several days at the uncommon height of
30.6. Motion W. to E.
1781.
Jan. 26. Shrewsbury.

Aug. 29. At 8^ 46' a.m. Anglesea, Caernarvon, Llanwrst, hi Isle of
Clwyd, south of Denbigh, Downing, and Holywell, Flint,
Beaumaris. " Bed rocked and shook so much that I could
hardly keep my seat." Motion NW. to SE. or SE. to NW.
Barom. at Beaumaris was 29,67, the thermom. 66°.-- (Trans.
Roy. Soc. London.)

Mr Milne on Earthquake- Shocks felt in Great Britain, 107

1781.
Dec. 8. Holywell and Downing, at 4 or 6 p.m. Shocks from NE.
— (Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond.)
1782.
Oct. 5. At B or 9 p.m. St Asaph, Mold (Flintshire}, Bangor, Anglcsca.

Shocks from NE. to SW.— (Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond.)
Nov. 10. Loch Rannoch in Scotland agitated. The barometer sunk to
within one-tenth of bottom of scale.
1784.
Sept. J 2. At 9 A.M. Loch Tay agitated. About 9 a.m. the air being quite
calm, the water at the east end of the loch ebbed 300 feet,
leaving the channel dry. It then accumulated, and rolled
about 300 feet further to westward, where, meeting a similar
wave rolling in a contrary direction, both united and rose to
height of 5 or 6 feet, producing a white foam at top. The
water then rushed on south shore, and rose 4 feet beyond
highest water-mark. It then returned, and continued to ebb
and flow every seven minutes for two hours, the waves gra-
dually diminishing each time they reached the shore. The
same phenomenon occurred every day for a week, but with
less force, and at a later hour.
178G.
June 16. Whitehaven, Isle of Man, Dublin, and SW. parts of Scotland.

— (G. Mag. v. Ivii. 198.)
Aug. 11. At Dumfries two shocks were felt, with 3" to 9" between them.
A man sitting fishing at 2*' 20' a.m. on banks of Nith, with face
to west, felt ground lifted first against the right thigh, and
immediately after against the left. It was like a wave. In two
or three seconds after, the same was repeated with greater
violence. From this he judged that the shocks came from N.
to S. In the town birds were pitched ofF their perches, plates
were thrown down, and slates rattled on the roofs.
This earthquake felt through the counties of Dumfries, Rox-
burgh, Cumberland, Berwick, Kirkcudbright, Lanark, Argyle,
and Aberdeen. It was felt at Kelso at 2 a.m. Carham at 2^
20', Kirkcudbright at 3 a.m., Glasgow at 2*^ 30', Coekermouth
and Whitehaven at 1^ 65', (here from SE.) At this last-men-
tioned place there was a noise as if a well-packed hogshead
was thrown on floor. The strings of a spinnet were heard to
vibrate — walls were cracked, and people were thrown out of
bed. The noise continued from 3' to 5'. The barometer was
at 29 inches, and the weather was close and sultry. There
was a rumbling noise in the air. A chimney was thrown
down. The quay at Workington was a little damaged.
There was much rain on the day before, as well as on the
* day of the earthquake. It was slightly felt in Glasgow and

Aberdeen. This shock extended S. to N. 160 miles, and
from E. to W. 100 miles. At Gilsland all who were asleep

108 Mr Milne on Earthquake-Shocks felt in Great Britain.

178G, were awoke by a violent tremulous noise, "which lasted many
seconds. It made the beds, &c. tumble and move. At the
tim'e of the shock, it rained violently.
At Whitehaven, on the preceding evening, the weather was so
close and sultry as to render breathing oppressive, and a
thick fog came on from the SW.
This shock extended to Argylcshire, and was felt everywhere
at same moment.
1787.
Jan. 6. Campsie, Strathblane, at 10 a.m. ; Killearn, Fintray, New Kirk-
Patrick. A rushing noise from SE. was heard before the
shock. A rivulet which turned a mill, became dry in several
parts. The hedges Avere seen to be agitated as if by a sud-
den gust of wind, though it was then calm. The horses going
in a plough stood still with fear. — (G. Mag. v. Jvii. 82 and 198.)
... 26. Fintray, on the preceding night, ground on which Alloa mill
built, sunk 1^ feet.
Aug. 11. Penrith, Lancaster, Manchester, Lennel near Coldstream; 2 a.m.
Motion N.NW. and S.SE.— (G. Mag. v. Ivii. 494.)
1788.
July 8. Sea at Dunbar suddenly receded \h foot. Shock of earthquake

felt in Isle of Man.
Nov. 11. Comrie and Crieff, &c.

1789.
Aug. Comrie.— (G. Mag. v. lix. 1041.)

Sept. 2. Comrie, at 11 p.m. A smart shock, and rumbling noise. — (Tr.
R. S. E. V. iii. 240.)
... 2G. Wenlockin Wiltshire. Houses shaken. — (G. Mag. v. lix. 947.)
Nov. 6. Crieff and Comrie at 6 p.m. A'iolent shock, accompanied by a
noise like the discharge of distant artillery, extended for
more than 20 miles in direction of NW. and SE. For two
months previously, a rumbling noise like that of distant
thunder, had been heard at Lawers House. The house was
shaken, as if its foundations were struck by an immense mal-
let. There was a tremulous motion, which made flames of
caudles vibrate, and furniture clatter. The waters of Moni-
vaird Loch were so agitated, as to disturb and frighten the
wild fowl. It was calm at time. The barometer rose and
fell several times during day. Next morning, at 6 a.m. a
tempest arose, which continued for 24 hours. The earth
was distinctly perceived to heave. This shock was suc-
ceeded by 30 minor ones, in space of two hours. It was felt
strongly at Lawers House, in Glenlednock, at Drummond
Castle, and at Ardoch though faintly.
... 10. Crieff and Comrie, at 3 p.m. Shock as violent as one on 5th.

Furniture all shaken,
u. II. Criuff and Comrie, in forenoon, more violent than on 6th, accom-
panied by a hollow rumbling n^isct The ic€ en the sheet of

Mr Milne on Earthquake-SJiocks felt in Great Britain. 109

1709. water near Lawers House was shivered to pieces. The se-
verest of these shocks reached Killin and Ardvoirlich, to-
wards the west. They did not extend beyond Glenalmond
towards the east.

Deo. 29. Crieff and Comrie at 1 p.m., a pretty smart shock, during a vio-
lent storm of wind and rain. All these shocks felt by most
persons as coming from NW. or NE., though some thought
they moved in NE. and SW. direction.
... 30. The same day with the earthquake at Bergo di Son Sepolchro
in Italy, three distinct shocks of earthquake were felt at the
house of Parson's-Grcen, on the . north side of Arthur's Seat,
Edinburgh.— (Tr. R. S. E.)
1791.

Sept. 2. At 5^ 5' p.m. Slight shock felt at Ochtertyre.
1792.

Feb. 26. At 8h 45' p.m., Leicestershire, Rutland, Newark, Biggleswade
(Bedfordshire), Derby, slightly, Stamford, sharply; at Little
Paunton (Lincolnshire) from NW. to SE. Hole in ground
60 or 70 j'ards in diameter at Whitehaven. Same track of
country traversed in 1750 by earthquake. It then began in
Derbyshire, and passed off the island through Lincolnshire
and part of Cambridgeshire. — (Tr. R. S. L.)

Mar. 2. At 8^^ 46' p.m. Kettering (Northamptonshire), preceded by vio-
lent crash or concussion overhead in the air, as well as by
rumbling noise; Bedford, Leicester, Nottingham, Rutland,
Lincoln, Biggleswade. A warming-pan hanging on a wall,
was seen to swing. — (Sc. Mag. v. llv. 147.)

Oct. 10. In the morning a shock felt at Crieff and at Comrie. Very loud
noise ; atmosphere very still ; awoke all the people and
alarmed them ; houses much shaken ; furniture tossed about ;
weather previously variable and boisterous for some days
before ; gusts of wind frequently succeeded by calms ; fre-
quent heavy rains also.

Between 12th Oct. and 18th Nov. at V^ 30' p.m. Smart shock at Comrie ;
wet and windy at the time.

Nov. 10. Three repeated smart shocks of earthquake were felt on banks
of Loch Rannoch (Perthshire), accompanied by noise like
that of distant thunder.
... 18. Comrie, 11 a.m. An alanning shock.
1793.

Feb. 3. In evening at Comrie. Two violent shocks.
... 26. Wind blew in evening at Comrie sharply from west, and air
clear and frosty. At 10^> 30' sky became cloudj^ ; wind ceased,
and then a great noise was heard, accompanied by a slight
shock.
May At Comrie. Motion of earth horizontal from N. to S., and then
returned to former position. Full moon. The wind lulled
at time of shock. Dykes thrown down.

Sept. 28, Salisbury, Shaftesbury, 4 p.m. At Shaftesbury the shock was

110 Mr Milne on Earthquake- Shocks felt in Great Britain.

1793. accompanied by a rumbling noise, and seemed to come from
the SW. Its effects were greatest on houses near the edge
of the hill. The people in the street could see the buildings
move, particularly projecting objects, such as lamp-posts, &c.
— (G. Mag. V. Ixiii., 950.)
1794.
May 2, Comrle at 4 p.m. Very severe shock, with loud noise. The
houses were shaken ; mountains seemed to oscillate ; the dogs
barked ; and some cattle ran, as they sometimes do in thunder.
Sept. 28. Comric 3 p.m.

Oct. 1. Comrie S^^SO' p.m. Loud noise heard, such as usually accom-
panies shocks. After the noise passed, ' the wind began to
blow hard.
2. Comrie 11 p.m. Shock.

... 18. Comrie 1 a.m. Violent shock, with very loud noise. Before
the shock, it fell calm for a few minutes ; and immediately
after the shock, the wind blew furiously ; night was very wet.
Dec. 8. Comrie 5'^ 30' p.m. Severe shock, with a loud rumbling noise.
Wind to-day blew in great gusts ; about twilight the sky
cleared up, and the wind was hushed ; immediately thereafter,
the shock was felt ; the wind immediately after, blew furiously.
4. Comrie 10 p.m. Shock.

... 25. Comrie 1^ 15' p.m. A severe shock and great noise; wind
from NE.

... 80. Comrie. Shock at 8 p.m. Weather frosty ; wind NW., but

1795. nearly calm.

Jan. 2. Comrie 1*^ 50' a.m. Very violent shock, with a tremendous
noise. The motion was perpendicular, and seemed to be
caused by an explosion immediately under the village. My
house seemed to be lifted from its foundation, and every thing
in it got a sudden jerk. The centre of nothing was changed.
Formerly the motion had been horizontal, and pushed things
to one sid(?. The previous night was clear and frosty ; gentle
breeze from N.NW. After the shock, the frost went away.

... 22. Comrie 2^ 40' P.M. A shock, with long continuing noise.
Mar. 12. Comrie at 11 p.m. Two most alarming shocks, with interval of
8", and accompanied by uncommonly loud noise, which pre-
ceded and followed them. Every thing was heaved up-
wards ; many rumbling noises followed during two hours ;
wind from east ; it did not blow high as usual after the shock ;
the air was clear and chilly. This shock felt at Loch Erne
and Tyndrum ; cattle rose up, and dogs ran about alarmed.

... 13. Comrie. The rumbling noises continue; day cold and wind
east.

... 16. Comrie. Rumbling noises ; wind cold and east.

... 21. Comrie. Rumbling noises this morning and last night; wind
NW. (Moon changed 3'esterday.)

... 23. Comrie. Rumbling noises in evening.

,.. 27» Comrie. Rumbling noises in evening, R p.m.

Mr Milne on Earthquake- Shocks felt in Great Britain. Ill

1795.

April 8. Comrie. Wind east. Shock and rumble at 3 p m.
... 25. Comrie about 6 p.m. Smart shock. (Wind veered to north at
2 P.M. from west.) Earth trembled greatly ; noise began to
north of village, and expired towards south ; the wind blew
more briskly after the shock, from NW. to SE.

June 19. Comrie. A rumbling noise in bowels of earth.

July 14. Comrie. Two or three rumbles in evening; wind NW.
... 15. Comrie. A rumble in the evening ; wind north ; very close.
... 25. Comrie. A loud noise, and smart shock at 6^30' p.m. The air
warm and heavy ; wind east.

Sept. 1. Comrie at night. Sounds of earthquake.

4. Comrie. Shock between 2 and 3 p.m., and some accompanying
sounds ; wind SE. ; day wet.

Oct. 4. Comrie. Shock ; wind S W.

Xov. 18. At 11 P.M. earthquake felt as far north as Leeds, and as far south
as Bristol ; east as far as Norwich, and west as far as Bristol.
Before shock, strong gale from SW., then a lull. Imme-
diately before shock, a whizzing gust of wind. A tremulous
motion in the earth preceded and followed the shock. The
barometer for thirty-six hours preceding the shock, had va-
ried very remarkably, — on 1 7th, it was 30.23. On 18th it sunk
to 28.G3 j and just before the shock it was 28.8. The ther-
mometer was 48°. The atmosphere " was loaded with hu-
midity. Thunder and lightning had been observed some days
before, and several persons of delicate health passed the night
of the 18th in a restless uneasy manner, without knowing
why." The wind blew in the morning a hurricane from S W.
It was calm, however, when the shock took place, and had
been for 4 or 5 hours previously. At Birmingham persons in
bed felt themselves raised up, as if by some one underneath.
At Derby the shock was so severe that the tops of about
twenty chimneys were shaken off. At Nottingham (where
also it was severely felt) two shocks were felt ; " and lumi-
nous electric appearances in the sky."
These appearances were observed in Derby and Notting-
ham shires. A ball of fire was seen to pass over the town of
Derby, when the shock was felt. The Rev. Mr Gregory re-
lates that about six hours before the shock his "attention
was much struck with the aspect of the sky in the S. and SE.
quarters. In this direction, a cloud very black and lowering
extended itself over this part of the hemisphere. The margin
of the cloud, which was nearly parallel to the horizon, was
fringed, to the extent of at least 40°, from the S. towards the
E., and to the breath, perhaps, of 1\°, with a very bright
white light, which had very much the appearance of white
satin. The light was shaded, to its whole extent, as it were
with a veil of a deep muddy purple colour. The white light.

112 Mr Milne on Earthquake- Shocks felt in Great Britain.

1795. seen below this gloomy purple liaze, and farther contrasted by
the very dark surface of so extensive and lowering* a cloud,
formed a very striking appearance." — ^'I was fully persuaded
that this luminous appearance was occasioned by electric light,
with which I concluded the cloud to be highly charged." At
8 P.M. " every extraordinary appearance had now vanishej,!,
the night was dark and gloomy, the air quite calm and mild*
At 11^^ 20' we were all extremely surprised and alarmed at a
sudden blast (rather than explosion, because it had not that
sharp compressed elastic tone I annex to the idea of an explo-
sion) which burst out instantaneously somewhat below the
zenith to the W., and which, as I conjectured from the
direction in which the sound was heard, seemed to rush
through the air towards the E. with great velocity, and to
meet with considerable resistance to its motion ; for it made
a whizzing noise as it passed over us. At the instant the
blast burst out, it was '' accompanied with a very loud,
deep- toned, hollow, sullen sound, not altogether unlike a
deep groan." — " The first shock felt to me so tremulous, that
I could not form any judgment concerning its direction ; my
chair was shaken with a kind of vertiginous motion. The
second shock seemed to come from the N., perhaps a few
points to the W. of it."
Another gentleman at Derby, though he did not observe the
meteor before mentioned, "perceived at the instant of the
concussion, a remarkable coruscation proceeding from the
SW. quarter of the heavens, and producing a gleam similar
to a distant flash of lightning, but of longer continuance."
Many persons at Derby " felt something like an electrical shock."
Shortly after the shock, the air became extremely cold, the wind
began to blow from NE., and the whole country was covered
with snow.— (G. Mag. v. Ixv., 891, and Tr. R. S. L. for 1796.)
In mines of Derbyshire the shock felt, and a rushing of wind
perceived. The workmen " were so much alarmed by the
noise, and the sudden gust of wind that attended it, as to
leave their work." Clear that shock came from SW. to NE.
Same direction as earthquake on 30th September 1750 and
25th February 1792, and similar districts affected.
1796.

Jan. 31. Comrie. Some sounds of earthquake during past week.

Mar. 16. Comrie. Shock this morning.
1797.

Feb. 8. Comrie about 7 p.m. Slight shock and loud noise.
... 10. Comrie at 12^ 20' a.m. and 6 a.m. " The first awoke every
one ; I thought that we would all have been swallowed up ;
wind west.
... 17. Comrie, Slight shock this afternoon, with noise.

May 12. Comrie. Two shocks at night ; wind west.

Aug. 24. Comrie. Shock at night, which was felt in Argyleshire.

Mr Milne 07i Earthquake- Shocks feU in Great B>*itain. 113

1797.
Nov. 19. Comrie 11 a.m. A shock, with long and loud noise.
Dec. 19. Comrie at 6 a.m. A slight shock with loud noise; much rain
had fallen previously.
1798.
April 19. Comrie. Three shocks in morning ; one very smart.
May 6. Comrie at 10 a.m. A very smart shock ; day warm, and an un-
common noise.
1799.
Jan. 17. At Comrie. Earthquakes felt.
Feb. 6. A very severe shock at Guernsey, which caused an extensive

land-slip.
. ... 24. Comrie. Shock at 1^^ 60' a.m. which greatly alarmed us. The
wind had been very high before ; but it lulled during the con-
tinuance of the shock, and then blew as strong as before.
Shock proceeded from west to east ; subterranean noises ac-
companied the shocks.
Mar. 3. (Sunday.) Two loud rumbles at Comrie since last Sunday.
1800.

Dec. 8. Violent shock at 9 a.m. at Comrie. Noise very loud, long
continued, and alarming.
1801.

Jan. 11. At Comrie two violent shocks, the one at 7 a.m., the other after
11. Loud noise. Scene very awful. Day wet. Wind un-
certain. This shock was felt also at Loch Erne head, Killin,
Tyndrum, and Glenfinlas ; also at Callander, Perth, Grange-
mouth, &c. Though it was distinctly felt in the New Town
of Edinburgh, it was not perceived in the Old Town, or to
the south of it.

Sept. 6. (Sunday.) Comrie, at 1'^ 15' p.m. Wind lulled at time of shock.
Shock at Comrie great, with very loud noise, perhaps more so
than an^'^ before. Several subterranean noises, and one slight
shock. Morning chilly. Wind NE. Pretty calm before.
It rose after the earthquake, and blew sometimes violently
during the afternoon. In the preceding evening, the air
troubled, and apparently charged with electricity. This the
case for several nights past. On the NE., as clear as if the
moon had been rising about 9 or 10 in the evening, whereas
it was in the last quarter. All the night of Thursday, Friday,
and Saturday, it was uncommonly clear. The electrical fluid
seemed to be waving between every cloud all over the hori-
zon, and the whole atmosphere seemed to announce an earth-
quake. The weather has been excellent for reaping the har-
vest.

\\,, 7. At 6 A.M. Edinburgh, Dunfermline, and Glasgow at same in-
stant; and Harvieston, near Dollar. More severe at Col-
quhalzie (near Crieff) than the one on 23d October 1839. At

VOL. XXXI. NO. LXI. — JULY 1841. H

114 Mr Milne on Ear tJiquake- Shocks felt in Great Britain,

1801. 6 A.M., beds were knocked against tlie wall. There were two
shocks, accompanied by a great noise. The whole house shook,
and every one rushed from bed-rooms, and met in passages in
their night-clothes, thinking house was falling. In course of
10' or 15', the shock was followed by about twenty subter-
ranean noises. At Comrie, shocks at 4 and 6 a.m. Noise very
terrible, and slates of house rattled. Barometer fell suddenly.
Much electricity in atmosphere ; and people in Edinburgh
felt their houses lifted up. The shock there perceived to come
from the north. Two reapers near Edinburgh were killed,
and a third was bruised by the gable of an old barn falling on
them, which was thrown down by the shock. A large tene-
ment in Paterson's Court (Edinburgh) sunk so much as to
require being abandoned by its inhabitants, and it was ordered
by the magistrates to be pulled down. — (G. Mag. v. lxxi.,948.)

Sept. 18. At Comrie a shock this night. Several rumbles during preced-
ino" part of week. Wind north. Weather sultry, and the air
hazy previously. "Wet weather afterwards.
... 25. At Comrie. Slight shock at 10 a.m. Wind east. Weather

good. Frosty at night. Moon full on 20th.
1802.

June 10. Comrie. Slight shock and loud noise, at 11 p.m.

Aug. 6 and 6 a.m., Alloa, Kennet, Harvieston, Clackmannan (where
chimneys thrown 'down). Mr Jamieson at Alloa nearly thrown
out of bed.

Oct. 8. Since last week (at Comrie) some slight shocks, preceded by
drought, and followed as usual by changeable weather. Cold
and wet after them on this occasion.
... 21. At Caermarthen, Llandillo, and Harbeath (Pembrokeshire). —

(G. Mag. v.lxxii. 1154.)
1005.

Jan. 12. Vale of Clwyd, at 7 p.m.— (G. Mag. v. Ixxv. 173.)
180G.

May 29. At Comrie two smart shocks. Noise very loud. Wind NW.
Weather dry and sultry. Was dry for some days before, and
continued so for weeks after. Heavy rain and great thunder
in the following July, and again in August.
1809.

Jan. 9. At Comrie, in morning, a violent shock, with very loud and
prolonged noise; the smartest since 7th September 1801.
The weather, which had been stormy, had become soft and
agreeable, — snow melting. It was calm and serene at time
of the shock.
... 18. Dunning and Bridge of Allan, In Perthshire, 2 a.m. Sound from
N W., which became louder and louder. After continuing half
a minute, it seemed to come near, and suddenly earth heaved
perpendicularly, and with a tremulous motion the ground
seemed to roll in a SE. direction. After shock passed, noise
also died away. At this time, atmosphere was calm, dense, and

Mr Milno on Earthquake- Shocks felt in Great Britain, 115

1809. cloudy ; and for some hours both before and after, there was

no motion in the air. Fahr. therm, at 2'^ 30' was 17°. The
previous day was cahn and cloudy, therm, at 8 a.m. 14° ; at
8 P.M. 13°, In morning of shock at 8 a.m., thermometer was
19° J at 8 P.M. 16°, Mr P. Martin, surgeon, was on horseback
at the time, and his horse from fright stopped. The noise
was greatest during the shock.
Jan. 31. Strontian (Argylcshire), five shocks, which extended over the
neighbourhood, and were accompanied by a noise like distant
thunder.
Feb. 1. Strontian, one shock.
... 4. do. two shocks. The first of these displaced all move-
able articles in houses, and shook the buildings much.
... 6. do. two shocks.
... G. do. one shock.

Note. — These shocks at Strontian are stated to have all

occurred between 5 and 7 r.M. on each day. They

were distinctly felt by miners below ground. — (Scots

Mag. V. Ixxi. 31 G.)

1810.

Nov. 15. At Comrie a smart shock, between 14th and 15th. Noise loud.

Wind N. for some days. Hard frost followed.
1811.

Oct. 12. At Clwyd (Wales), at 7 p.m.

Nov. 18. Oxfordshire and neighbouring counties, accompanied by deep
rumbling noise, similar to that of a distant discharge of heavy
ordnance.
... 30. Portsmouth, Gosport, &c., shook the houses so much, that
people sprang out of bed ; accompanied by a hollow rumbling
noise. The water in the harbour was violently agitated for
some minutes. — (Scots Magaz. v. Ixxiv. 71.)
1812.
Jan. 18. In Oxfordshire and adjoining counties, a smart shock felt,
'' accorryianied with a deep rumbling noise, similar to a dis-
charge of heavy ordnance. In some places, this noise con-
tinued for upwards of 10'."
May 1. Shock felt at Neath in Gloucestershire, '' attended by a noise
as loud as the report of a large piece of ordnance apparently
^ a great depth in the earth, which shook houses and threw
down some chimneys. — (Gent. Mag. v. Ixxxii. 479.)
Sept. 10. At Comrie a shock this night. The next day cloudy and warm;

excellent weather followed. On 11th the wind NW.
Oct. 17 and 18. On Nith at night.— (G. Mag. v. Ixxxii. 487.)
1813.

Sept. 24. Shock at Stamford and neighbouring towns from W. to E.
1814.
Nov^ 20 to 26. At Comrie, some slight shocks were felt this week. Hard
frost and snow for some days. The weather this winter
changeable, and generally in extremes.

116 Mr Milne on Earthquake- Shocks felt in Great Britain.

1816.

Mar. 17. At \2\ Doncaster, Bawtrey, Blytlie, Carlton, Works of Shef-
field, Chesterfield, Mansfield, Nottingham, Lincoln (12^50'),
W. to E.; Gainsborough, Newark, Leicester, Loughborough,
Derby, Matlock, at 12^ 45'. Pictures on the walls were set
a-swinging. Several chimneys were thrown down ; accom-
panied by an apparent gust of wind, and a loud rumbling
noise.— (G. Mag. v. Ixxxvi. QQQ.)
Aug 6. Perth at 10'^ 45' p.m. Dunkeld, Carse of Gowrie, Strathearn.
... 13» Inverness, 10^45' p.m.; Ross, Forres, Moray, Banff, Aber-
deen, Montrose, Forfar, Wick, Loch Lochy. Scarcely felt
in Edinburgh, and on west coast of Ross-shire. At Fraser-
burgh, beds heaved and rocked ; and the noise there was like
a heavy weight sliding down house-roof. Night hazy and calm.
Shock everywhere simultaneous. Reached the Pentland Frith
on north, and Coldstream on south, so that it affected all Scot-
land. It was, however, chiefly felt between the Tay and
Pentland Frith. Direction of concussion from NW. to SE.
Greatest violence was under town of Inverness, as its centre.
" The fabric of the whole building" (in which Sir Thomas
D. Lauder was) " shook from its foundation ; and the floor
. and the chair on which I sat, were several times moved power-
fully up and down in quick succession, whilst, along with this
vertical motion, I felt the chair rapidly agitated horizontally
backwards and forwards, as if some Herculean person had
taken it up with both hands from behind, and shaken it vio-
lently. Of this compound motion I was perfectly sensible."

(Farther Extracts from Sir Thomas D. Lauder's Account of Earthquake

0/1816. J
1816.

Aug. 13. The barometer at Relugas, which was about 29.20, did not
seem to have been affected. Though the whole summer had
been very wet and stormy, the previous day, and particularly
the evening, was fine and still. The shodc was followed by
the same stillness. The following morning was calm, but
gloomy ; and a thick rain came on, which continued to fall
incessantly for above sixty hours, and indeed for the next
month there was hardly any fair weather.
A man travelling on foot, in the mountains south of Relugas,
gave the following account. He was first alarmed by a sud-
den and tremendous noise as of a rushing wind, which came
sweeping up the hills like a roar of water. This was instantly
followed by the rumbling sound, or rhombo, — and the ground
was then sensibly heaved up and down under his feet. Next
morning I examined in my own neighbourhood, everywhere,
the surface of the ground, but could not discern the slightest
' vestige of a crack. Dogs howled, and poultry on the roost

manifested much dismay. A horse started with his rider,
and would not move forward. At Inverness some stones

Mr Milne on Earthquake- Shocks felt in Great Britain, 117

181G. were thrown from the tops of houses across the street. The

spire of the county jail was rent through, and the part above
the rent was twisted round several inches ; — as the direction
of the undulation was towards the SE., the upper part was
left behind. The mason-lodge was rent from top to bottom,
and the north stalk of the chimney partly thrown down.

A slighter shock was felt about half an hour afterwards.

At Montrose, a vivid flash of lightning was observed to follow
after the shock. At Dunkeld, a small meteor was seen to
pass from E. to W. just about the time of the earthquake.
There the houses were much shaken.

Immediately after the shock commenced, I felt a kind of faint-
ishness, which did not leave me for two hours. The same
felt by others. I know persons who have the same feeling
. during a thunder-storm. This faintish feeling was in some
persons attended by a very slight degree of sickness.

All alluvial positions were more convulsed, than more stable for-
mations in their close vicinity.

Such a rainy season as the past, has hardly been remembered
by any one.

At the Kessock-Ferry, the ferrymen felt their boat heaved sud-
denly and rapidly, as if projected over two or three large
waves. The night and sea were calm.

Notes from Newspapers.

At Inverness the shock lasted 20". The motion came from the
N. and W., whereby the stones in the upper part of the spire
were thrown to NW. Stones on chimney-tops were also
thrown to NW.

At Montrose, the bells rung, and bed-curtains moved as if by
wind. The weather on the preceding day was cold and
stormy from the north ; but on the evening of the earthquake,
it was uncommonly mild and calm. It has been succeeded
by a tempest of wind and rain from NE.

The shock felt at Perth and Dunkeld. The noise seemed to die
away to the west. At Perth there were two shocks separated
by half a minute, and there seemed to be a forward and then
a backward motion of the earth.

Excessive and long-continued rains had fallen in north of Scot-
land, for some months previous to earthquake.

The eflTects of this earthquake were perceived along the east
coasts, but not farther south than the Tay, and not farther
west than Loch Lochy. This earthquake said to have been
felt, though very slightly, in Edinburgh and Leith. — (G. Mag.
V. Ixxxvi. Part 2d, p. 269; and Annals of Philos., 1816-7.)
Aug. 19 and 20. Shocks on both days in Inverness and neighbourhood.
Sept. 24. Mr Gilfillan of Comrie states that there was an uncommon
phenomenon in the air,— a large luminous body, bent like a
orcsceutj which istretched itfi«lf over the heavens*

118 Mr Milne on Earthquake-Shocks felt in Great Britain.

1817.
Jan. 27. Shock at Mansfield and adjoining villages.
April 26. At 6^^ 30' a. m., a smart shock felt at Glasgow, Inverness,
Greenock, and slightly at Leith. Windows were violently
shaken.
June 10. At 1^^ 2i)' p. m., a smart shock in Urquhart, Dores, and near In-
verness.
... 16. At 6 A. M., two smart shocks felt iti same places.
Aug. 7. At 8^1 20', a slight shock in same places.
... 31. A smart shock in same places.
1818.
Feb. 6. Coningby (Lincolnshire). " iJ'oise like the subterranean firing
of cannon heard at the time." — (G. Mag. v. Ixxxviii. 171.)
... 19. Aberdeenshire.

... 20. Inverness at 1^20'. Also at Coningby (Lincolnshire) at 3 p.m.
(where, " accompanied by noise like firing of cannon"), and
east end of Holderness. Felt also at Kirton in Lindsey, where
meteor apparently about size of cannon ball with a streamer
behind it ; seen at same time moving in ait with great velocity.
— (G. Mag. v. Ixxxvi. p. 364.)
April Smart shock felt from one side of Lincolnshire to the other, and

extended across Holderness in Yorkshire.
June 19. Comrie, two shocks at an interval of a minute.
Sept. 1. Inverness.
Nov. 10. Inverness at 12^ 20' p. m. — (G. Mag. v. Ixxxviii. Part 2d, p. 567.)

1819.
Nov. 28. At Comrie a very smart shock between 1 and 2 a.m., and more
alarming than anyfor ten years. Wind uncertain that day and
before. Cold, and appearance of snow. It came from N W.
The noise, while passing below us, during 10", produced the
moving of furniture, jingling of plates, &c. It was accom-
panied with the usual hollow grumbling sound.

1820.

May 20. Wanlockhead, Dumfries.

Nov. 28. At 8 A.M. and 11^30' p.m., and on 29Lh at 10^^30' at Leadhills.
Shook bed, and was felt in the mines. The shock was felt

10 miles to E. and 3 or 4 miles to W.
1821.

Oct. 9 or 10. Strathearn, a few miles east of Crieff. Noise resembled tliat
of mail-coach on bad road. '' I felt the ground move under
my feet, as if I had been on piece of moving bog."
... 22. Comrie, Crieff, Loch Erne, Inverary, also 13 miles down Loch
Fine, with thunder and lightning.

Nov. 27. Leadhills and AVanlockhead at 8 a.m., a flight shock, with a
hollow rumbling noise. The miners heard the sound very
distinctly at a depth of 150 fathoms. On the same day, at

11 p. m., another shock was felt with a still louder sound, but
unaccompanied by any trembling of the earth.

Mr Milne on Earthquake -Shocks felt in Great Britain, 119

1822.
March. Shock near York, which shook people in their beds.
April 13. A shock was felt at Comrie about 9i a.m. Very awful shock.
More so than for twenty years past. The weather very cold
that day and previously, but became warm the day after.
Accompanied by two loud reports, one apparently above our
heads, the other which followed immediately under our feet.
The noise lasted 30", and was much louder than any thunder.
The shock threw down a number of pots and pans, &c.
... 22. A shock was felt at Dunkeld at 9i a.m.
Sept. 18. A smart shock of an earthquake was felt at Dunston, near New-
castle-on-Tyne, between 1 and 2 a.m., accompanied by a
loud noise like distant thunder.
1826.
Dec. 26. Ardvoirlich (Loch Erne). Sound which preceded shock re-
sembled that of blast in a quarry. Felt at same hour (2 p.m.)
at Leadhills. Day was warm, thick, and hazy.
1827.
Feb. 9. At 7 p. M. in NW. part of Wales and Isle of Anglesea, for 40"
to 1'. Furniture overturned. Noise like cart laden with
stones.
At Rippon (Yorkshire) a tremendous explosion heard, which
shook whole neighbourhood. Earth shook, so as to cause a
fissure nearly 20 yards wide, which found to be 24 yards deep.
1828.
May 20. An earthquake in the south of Scotland, which was felt in the

mines of Wanlockhead. Felt also near Dumfries.
Dec. 9. At Comrie, the third within last three months.

1831.
March 1. At Ardvoirlich, Killin, Tyndrum, at 11 p.m. Came frome NW.
Night calm, frosty. Sound resembled a sudden gust of win^.
It shook doors and windows. Barometer at Inverness for
February was 29.10, the lowest monthly average for the year.
The average of the year was 29.64G.
At Castle-Toward (120 feet above sea) the average height of
the barometer for the year was 29.90. The mean height of
barometer for February was 29.71, being the lowest of the
monthly means. Rain in February was 6.3 inches, in March
7.4 inches, for the year 66.05 inches.
1833.
Mar. 20. Glengarry, door at inn was lifted off the latch.

At Clunie Manse (Perthshire) the barometer, on average for
year, stood at 29.69 inches. In February the average was
29.26, being the lowest of all the months.
At Castle-Toward (120 feet above sea) barometer for year was
29.64, being lowest for year, except that in November, which
was 29.06. But the minimum for February (28.68) was lower
than for any other mouth. Rain in February was 6,8 inches^
in ^larch 1.2 inches, for year 65,4.

120 Mr Milne on Earthquake'Shocks felt in Great Britain.

1833.
June 11. North of Manchester.

Sept. 18. At 10 A.M. Chichester, Birdham, Llphook. Barometer 29.26,
the air very sultry, warm, and still ; wind from S. and SW.
On previous evening, a brilliant aurora with meteors falling.
A rushing wind heard before the shock. The shock produced
a tremor, followed by an undulation. The pheasants crowed.
The shock was felt in a boat in Chichester harbour, as if it
had struck a rock. To a person in an old cottage, the shock
resembled the sudden turning of a powerful steam-engine or
thrashing-machine. In solid buildings, the shock was like
the falling of a weighty body, followed by a prolonged undu-
lation.
Nov. 13. At 2^40' A.M., Chichester (Dorsetshire). A thick fog preceded
it on previous day, which came from E., which continued till
9 A.M. on 13th. A distinct low sound preceded shock,
which consisted of a number of undulations rapidly succeed-
ing each other. Another and much slighter shock occurred
at Chichester about 6 a.m.
This thick fog said, by an observer in Dorsetshire, to be pre-
cisely similar to the fog which accompanied the Lisbon
earthquakes in 1807 and 181G. This fog commenced on
the 12th, succeeding heavy rain on the 11th November.
Numerous meteors observed in North America at 3 a.m. on
13th November 1833.
1834.

Jan. 23. At 2^ 45' a.m. Longfleet near Poole (Dorsetshire), Liphook,
Famhurst, Petworth, Pulborough, Bognor, Portsmouth ; ba-
rometer 30 inches, but barometer had previously risen and
fallen very capriciously, without any corresponding change on
weather. Morning of previous day was rainy, foggy, and
warm. At time of shock, air was calm, but instantly after, wind
rose and blew strong from S W. with rain and lightning. The
same humid weather prevailed up to close of January, and
season was a fortnight nearly in advance, up to end of March.
A tremor was felt during the shock, which was followed by
several undulatory movements, with two-thirds of a second
intervening betwixt each. The undulation was at Stansted
House from W. to E., and appeared to be single. It lifted a
bed there. At Pulborough, three distinct shocks were felt in
quick succession. The centre of intensity was a few miles
NW. of Chichester. The shock was not felt on Portsdown
hill, but along the north and south sides. All the shocks
were more severely felt at the lowest places.
Feb. 20. At 2 aIm. Chichester, a slight shock.

Note. — The four preceding notices regarding the Chichester
earthquakes have been extracted from a printed report
which Professor Forbes (Edinburgh) obtained for the au-
thor of this m^moir^ aud which report Was ^tA^i\ up from

Mr Milne on Earthquake- Shocks felt in Great Britain, 121

1834. inquiries by a committee at Chichester. Towards the con-

clusion of the report, it is observed that in May 1833
(though the previous spring had been backward) vegeta-
tion had advanced more rapidly than usual. At the early
part of September, there was occasionally rain, during which
the barometer got down to nearly 28 inches. For ten
weeks before the occurrence of the shock of 23d January
1834, the wind had pertinaciously prevailed SW., and it
had rained almost daily to a depth of nearly 12 inches.
The temperature, of the ground had been unprecedentedly
high for mid- winter, and the water in the wells 2° above
the average.
Aug. 27. At 10^* 25' P.M., along Hampshire coast, Portsmouth, South-
ampton, &c. A whirlwind at W. of Chichester, three hours
^ previously. Appearance of sunset extraordinary, and a West

India gentleman predicted an earthquake. A low rumbling
noise heard before shock. One of the men on the duty of the
preventive service, on the shore south of Chichester, at a dis-
tance from any building, heard a loud report, like that of a
great gun. Knowing that it could not be from any of the
Portsmouth guns, he exclaimed, '^ What is that !" and imme-
mediately felt the earth shaking under his feet. The Griper
(sloop-of-war) lying in Chichester harbour was thrown con-
siderably over to the south. The noise was verj' great, and
the crew were much alarmed, thinking that a lighter had
run ngainst her. — (Chichester Report.)
Sept. 21. At 11J»20' A.M. Earthquake felt at Chichester. The day was
cold and cloudy, after several days and nights of extraordi-

1835. nary and unseasonably hot weather.

Jan. 12. At 8 a.m. at Chichester, a slight shock felt. — (Chichester Re-
port.)
Aug. 20. In Lancashire at midnight. Another at 2>\ a.m. next morning.
Sensation of rising and sinking of ground.
1836.
Oct. 24. At Blytheswood, 10 a.m. The Milan mcagnetic-needic much
affected on 18th October.
1837.
Feb. 8. Loch Erne covered by black scum. On Thursday morning it
disappeared from centre and collected at sides. Also at
• Miggar (8 or 0 miles from Loch Erne) some clothes left out
all night covered with black powder.
Nov. 24. Shock at Camelford.

1838.
Jan. 21. At Tynehcad, a rent formed half a mile long.
Mar. 17. 1 P.M. at Shrewsbury. Shocks ran chiefly S. or SE. Bells
tingled, a ruler rolled from a desk on which it was lying.
... 27. Shrewsbury, Hnnwood, Dovington, &c. (1 p.m.)
Kov. Shock felt at Crieff,

122 Braconnot on Organic Matter in Primitive Bocks.

1839.
Mar. 20. (3^ a.m.) Glengarry (Inverncss-sliire), doors lifted ofF latches.
Boat on canal felt sliock, and people in it heard noise rever-
berated among hills. Shock felt at Kingussie between 2 and

3 A.M.

May 24. At 2 a.m. two shocks at Crieff, each of which lasted 2", accom-
panied by subterranean noise of much longer duration. The
weather next day soft.

June 11. Shock felt north of Manchester.

Sept. 1. On Sunday morning at 1 a.m. at Bristol, Newport, Cardiff,

and other places in South Wales, Shrewsbury. East of

Bristol, beds rocked, and crockery thrown down, and doors

opened.

{Mr GilfiUan's letter j with the rest of this article containing the inferences

deduced from the preceding Register, will be given in the next Number.)

Braconnot on Organic Matter in Primitive Bocks^ and Br&ng-
niart on the Conversion of the Felspar of Primitive Bocks
into Porcelain Clay,

1. — Braconnot on Organic Matter in Primitive Bocks.
Braconnot has submitted to dry distillation in porcelain re-
torts, various rocks, which plainly belong to the primitive for-
mation, and has obtained sometimes an acid, and very often
an ammoniacal water, with a small quantity of combustible
matter, whence he draws the conclusion that these rocks were
formed in a water in which animals lived, whose remains are
the cause of tlie combustible and ammoniacal products. The
result of these experiments would in this way therefore be
completely in opposition to the Plutonian theory, and would
be an additional proof for the Neptunian. If we follow up
with attention the breaking up of a solid rock, we perceive
that the newly-uncovered surface of the broken-up mass is
always moist, and after it has been for a time exposed to the
air, and thus been dried, it acquires another aspect. We
know that meteoric water, after it has passed through a
thinner or thicker bed of decayed organic matter with which
the surface is covered, percolates deeply into the rock, and
that it is constantly being pumped out of our mines. We find
that this water not only percolates through the fissures, but
that it also penetrates the mass of the rock ; can we then be
surprised that so much of the organic matter carried from the
surface in the course of thousands of years is collected, as to
be noticeable when the ' rocks are exposed to the process of
dry distillation ? Every mica contains a little water ; all

Brongniart on (he Formation of Porcelain Cla\j. 123

calcareous silicates contain so much organic matter, that
when heated, even in small quantities, in a close tube, they
give out an empyreumatic smell, and sometimes alkalina water,
and that the residue becomes black, but is again burned white
in the open air. All this is nothing else but the consequence
of the superficial water impregnated with such matters pene-
trating into the rocks, and there depositing from what it ac-
quired from the external surface everything that could be
united with the component parts of these rocks by a sort of
relationship.

2. — Brongniart on the Conversion of the Felspar of Primitive
Pocks into Porcelain Clay.

The frequent conversion of the felspar of primitive rocks
into porcelain clay or kaolin^ is intimately connected with the
views just mentioned ; and is an operation which would be
quite impossible if water did not penetrate the solid mass of
the rock, and produce a decomposition by which the kaolin is
formed from the previously existing crystallized or crystalline
felspar. Professor Alexander Brongniart has lately published
an essay on the formation and composition of kaolin, and the
following interesting statement is taken from it.
. During the long period in which J3rongniart has been Direc-
tor of the Royal Porcelain Manufactory of Sevres, he has
caused analyses to be made by the chemists there, and more
especially by Malaguti, of the kaolin of various countries, and
has likewise, in the course of his travels, himself visited most
of the localities. The analyses shew that kaolin consists of
aliimina and silicic acid, with or without potash or soda; but
that the relative quantities of alumina and silicic acid are not
in constant reciprocal proportions. The following are the
analyses of some of these porcelain clays : — .

Locality.

li

K«

II

■ft*

li

1^

pSgJ

if

SchlettJ, •
Meissen.

Zetlitz.
Freybcrg.

„**"

u

if

a.—

it
II

P.

Silicic Acid, .

43.0

57.3 ]57.6 54.50

58.3

53.0

53.1 52.5 '56.0 56.0

53.8

64.0

38.0

Alumina, . .

40.0

42.6

43.4;43.50

41.7

47.0

46.9 47.5 I35.O '44.0

46.2

36.0

32.0

Lime or Mag- J
nesia, )

0.3

_

_

0.34

Potash, . . .

—

1.68

Water, . ■. .

14.0 23.0

1

.•

121 Brongniart on the Formation of Porcelain Clay,

Brongniart has found, as the result of the various analyses,
that what is termed kaolin, or true porcelain clay, is always a
product of the decomposition of felspar in the primitive rocks,
which, however, does not preclude clays in general being also
formed by the weathering and decomposition of other minerals.
An opinion different from this has been expressed by Fuchs,
who assumes that kaolin is formed from a peculiar mineral
resembling felspar, which he has analyzed and found to con-
sist of N S 3 + C S 2 + 9 A S. It is, however, difficult to
understand in what way the large quantity of silicate of lime
contained in it can be dissolved and carried away.

The kind of primitive rock in which the kaolin is most fre-
quently formed, and in which it is purest, is pegmatite or gra-
phic granite, which is composed of a lamellar compound of
quartz and felspar. It is, however, also formed in common
granite, in gneiss, as well as in diorite and porphyry. The
kaolin of Passau and St Yrieux occurs in gneiss, that of Auer-
bach and Zetlitz in granite. At St Yrieux a portion of it is
met with in diorite, and at Mori in porphyry.

In regard to the circumstances which cause the conversion
of felspar into kaolin, the change seems chiefly ascribable to
perhaps a hydro-electrical influence exercised on a neighbour-
ing rock, which is always met with in close proximity to the
spots where the kaolin is found. This rock is of a red colour,
in consequence of its containing a large quantity of oxide of
iron. This circumstance was first remarked by Gehlen, when
he examined the repository of kaolin at Passau. Kuhn has
adduced another striking proof upon this subject. Near Sosa
in Saxony, kaolin is found. A vein of quartz which cuts
through the granite, has on both sides a thick sahlbandoi iron-
ore, and on both sides of the vein the felspar of the granite is
converted into kaolin, which is of excellent quality. Brongniart
lias found in every locality where he has examined reposi-
tories of kaolin, that they are surrounded by a very ferruginous
rock. It may also be added that the granite of Carlsbad, in
which large felspar-crystals occur, which, though still retain-
ing the crystalline form of felspar, have been converted into
kaolin, is strongly coloured red by oxide of iron.

As to the formation of the kaolin, and the unequal propor-
tions in which the remaining silicic acid and alumina are
therein combined, he states tho following probabilities : — 1.

M. Boussingault on Air found in the Fores of Snow, 125

That the decomposition took place under unequal influences,
in consequence of which sometimes more, sometimes less, of
the silicic acid, was left undissolved ; 2. The dissolving medium
could deposit silica while the potash was taken up ; and, 3.
The kaolin could be formed from other minerals besides fel-
spar. He considers this last supposition improbable, but the
second very probable. In the mean while the first seems the
most probable of all ; it requires only one condition to explain
the dissimilarity of the result, viz. a greater or smaller amount
of carbonic acid in the water, by which sometimes more, some-
times less, silica would be separated from the alkali.*

On the Composition of the Air found in the Pores of Snow,
By M. Boussingault.

During his staj^ on the Col du Geant, Saussure, upon examining the air
enclosed in the pores of snow, thought that it contained considerably less
oxygen than the air of the atmosphere. The following is the account he
has left us.

'' We thought, but a little too late, of collecting the air enclosed in the
Interstices of the snow, and we carried it to M. Sennebier for the purpose
of analyzing it. At Geneva, a mixture of equal parts of atmospheric air
and nitrous gas afforded him, twice consecutively, 1.01. The air of snow,
tested in the same manner, gave him on one occasion 1.85, and on another
1.86. This experiment, which appears to indicate a great degree of im-
purity in this air, would have required trials to ascertain the nature of the
gas which occupies the place of oxygen in the air in question."f

At the time when the beautiful investigations of Saussure were under-
taken, the eudiometer had madtj little progress ; but, notwithstanding its
imperfection, it was difficult to admit that such observers as Saussure and
Sennebier had been deceived in regard to the difference observed in the
composition of two gases, analyzed by the same means and in the same
conditions. It was this consideration which induced me to repeat Saus-
sure's experiment when I happened to be among the glaciers of America.
In the first attempt made by Colonel Hall and myself to ascend Chim-
bora9o,;}; on the side looking to ChlUapullu, we fell in with snow so loose
and deep that it was impossible, notwithstanding our utmost efforts, to
get beyond the height of 6115 metres. It was at this point that I filled
a jar with snow, sealing it hermetically. When we reached the hut where
we were to pass the night, the snow was completely melted; the water
produced by Its fusion occupied \ of the vessel. Having analj'zed the
air In the vessel by means of phosphorus, I ascertained that it contaiHed
only 16 or 17 in the 100 of oxygen.

* From Berzelius's Jahres-Berxcht^ Yittr Jahrgang.

t Saussure, tome viL p. 472.

X See Jameson's Philosophical Journal, vol. xix. p. 88.

126 M. Boussingaiilt on Air found in the Pores of Snow.

Saussure's old experiment^ which I had again brought into notice by ve-
rifying it among the perpetual snows of the Andes, attracted the attention
of natural philosophers. A German observer, M. Bischoff, in a scries of re-
searches relative to the physical history of the globe which he carried on
during an excursion among the Alps, had an opportunity of again taking
up the inquiry. lie triturated hardened snow under water ; the air pro-
cured by this means, analyzed in the eudiometer with sulphuret of potas-
sium, afibrded only from 10 to 11 in 100 of oxygen.

Up to this time these researches had been carried on in elevated regions
on glaciers; it was of interest, in order to complete them, to examine the
air of snow collected near the level of the sea. It was with this view
that I made some observations on snow fallen at Paris, in the end of De-
cember 1840, and in the beginning of January 1841. On the 20th Decem-
ber, I closely pressed snow recently fallen into a receiver, which I placed
on the mercurial trough.

The compressed snow occupied a volume of 287^'^- After melting, the
volume of air disengaged was about 109c-c. at the temperature of 4°5,
and under a pressure of 0'^-743.

Let it be 104.8cc- at 0°, and the pressure 0™-76. The volume of water
was 200CC.

The air examined on the 23d December yielded by phosphorus, in the
first analysis, 18.6 in 100 of oxygen; in a second, 18.8.

On 6th January, a receiver, of the capacity of 127''-*^- was filled with
compressed snow. After fusion, we obtained 43^<^- of air at the tem-
perature of 1°, and under the pressure of 0'^-735.

Let it be at 0°, and the pressure 0™- .76, 4lc.c .4.

The volume of water was SO'^-'^-

The air, analyzed shortly after the fusion of the snow, contained 19 in
100 of oxygen.

Tlius the air disengaged during the fusion of the snow, contains at
Paris, cquall}^ as on the Alps and the Andes, considerably less oxygen
than air from the atmosphere. May we not then conclude that such is
really the composition of the air enclosed in the pores of snow before its
fusion ? Unquestionably not ; and on this occasion I shall again bring
forward an opinion which I expressed in the account of my ascent of
Chimbora^o, while relating the fact confirmatory of Saussure's obser-
vation.

" The eudiometrical result which I obtained is certainly free from all
objection, but I believe that new experiments are still necessary to prove
clearly that the air which I examined was exactly that which existed in
the pores of the snow before melting. In fact, it is necessary to wait till
the melting of the snow in order to procure this air ; the gas in the vessel
is placed in contact with the scarcely or not at all aerated water which
has resulted from this fusion. Now we know, that, in similar circum-
stances, the oxygen dissolves 'much more easily in the water than the
azote, and that the air with which the water is saturated is richer in oxy-
gen than that of the atmosphere. The air remaining in the vessel may

M. Boussingault on Air found in the Fores of Snow. 127

therefore be less rich in oxygen, although in reality the whole air con-
tained in the snow was of the ordinary composition."*

Such is the true explanation of the small proportion of oxygen de-
tected in air emanating from snow during its fusion ; this will be de-
monstrated by the experiments already cited, when I shall have com-
pleted them by the following observations.

On the 20th December and 6th January, independently of the experi-
ments already related, I made arrangements for others on a larger scale,
in order to obtain a sufficiency of snow-water to enable me to extract the
air and analyze it. I shall confine myself to an account of one of these
experiments.

From 260^-^' of water produced by the melting of snow, wc obtained
by continued boiling 12'^'^- of air at the temperature of 3°.2, pressure
0^- 751 . Let it be 1 l^-c- .62 at 0'' and pressure 0™. 76.

This air, analyzed by phosphorus, contained 32 in 100 of oxygen, a
result wliich entirely agrees with those obtained by MM. de Humboldt
and Gay-Lussac ;t they found that air derived from

Distilled aerated water, contains oxygen, 32.9 in 100

Water of the Seine, . . . 81.9

Rain water, . . . . 31.0 ...

By referring again to the preceding experiments, and taking into ac-
count the air enclosed in the volumes of water obtained, we perceive
that, although the air disengaged from the snow contained only 18.7 and
19 of oxygen, the totality of this air, that is to say, the air measured and
the air dissolved, the volume of which has been disregarded, contained,
as nearly as possible, 20 in 100 of oxygen, a number approaching very
nearly to that adopted to represent the oxygen of the atmosphere.

There is, besides this, a much more direct means of ascertaining the
real composition of the air of snow. This consists in filling a glass vessel
with snow, and conducting the operation as if engaged in extracting air
from a liquid. The following is an example, being an experiment made
on the 6th January : —

350'^-^- of snow afforded 11 ^-^-.S of air, at the temperature of 3".3, and
under the pressure of 0'"- 740.

Analyzed by phosphorus, this air gave in the 100 —

In the first analysis, . . . 20.3

In the second, .... 21.0

This is very nearly the quantity of oxygen found in the air of the
atmosphere on the same day, and by the same means. In my opinion,
it was of considerable importance to determine the real composition of
the air contained in the interstices of snow, for if it had been proved that
there was a smaller quantity of oxygen, the fact, from the considerations
we are about to mention, would have gone directly to support the hypo-

♦ Annales de Chimie et de Physique, tome Iviii. p. 150, and Jameson's PhUoso-
phical Journal, vol. xix. p. 101.
t Memoir on the Eudiometer, Jov/mal de Phynque,

12S M. Bousslngavilt on Air found In the Pores of Snow.

thesis of Dalton, who admits that the proportion of oxygen in the atmo-
sphere diminishes with its height. If, indeed, we consider snow as an
aggregation of small crystals of ice formed in the higher regions, avc
must necessarily conclude, on witnessing the large quantity of air which
it encloses, that, when the water dissolved in the atmosphere condenses
into snow, it does not expel this large portion of air which it always al-
lows to disengage when congealing on the surface of the earth ; if wo
may not suppose, say MM. de Humboldt and Gay-Lussac, that snow
retains a certain quantity of air enclosed in its minute crystals.

Air adheres to snow in a very remarkable manner, and this shews that
it penetrates even the smallest crystals of ice. Very little gas is obtained
by passing snow under a bell-glass full of water at the temperature of
1° or 2°. The air is not disengaged in any abundance, except in the very
act of melting. This intimate penetration of the minute crystals which
constitute snow, cannot permit us to entertain much doubt that the air
derived from them comes for the most part from the regions of the at-
mosphere where the meteor is formed. According to the analysis which
I have given, we arc not entitled to believe that the composition of this
air is distinct from that of the lower regions, at least the difference, if
any such exist, is certainly of the nature of those which arise from errors
of observation. But, considered in relation to its origin, the air enclosed
in the interstices of snow presents sufficient interest to render its analysis
again desirable, when the processes of meteorological chemistry shall
have been suitably perfected. Uj) to the present day, however, it must
be understood that the results of experiment do not tend to confirm
Dalton's conjectures. Accordingly, in his memorable ascent, M. Gay-
Lussac having obtained air at the enormous elevation of 6680 metres,
did not find in it a different proportion of oxygen from that in the air of
Paris with which it was analyzed comparatively. In the work which
this celebrated natural philosopher prepared in conjunction with M. dc
Humboldt, he gives the oxygen of the air of Paris at 0°.21, and this
number scarcely differs from that deduced from the analysis made by M.
Brunner on the Faulhorn, at the height of 2600 metres, by a process
which certainly possesses advantages over the old method. M. Brunner
in fact found 20.915 for the oxygen of the air at this station.

To complete, as far as it is in my power, the results obtained re-
specting the composition of the atmosphere at different heights, I shall
state the results of the analysis which I made during my stay among the
Andes.

At Santa F^ de Bogota, at the height of 2643 metres, during the
month of April 1825, Volta's eudiometer gave me 20.65 for the oxygen
of the air.

At Ibagut^ at the foot of the Quindiu Chain, height 1323 metres, I
obtained 20.7 for the oxygen of the atmosphere, on December 1826.

At Mariquita, situate in the valley of the Rio-Grande de la Magdalena,
at an elevation of 548 metres, a series of anal^^ses by the spongy plati-
num, made in November 1826, indicated 20.77 as the oxygen of the air*

( 129 )

071 the Geological Structure of the Northern and Central Be*
gions ofBussia in Europe. By Roderick Impey Murchison,
F.R.S., M.R.I.A., President of the Geological Society of
London, &c., and E. de Verneuil, Vice-President de la
Societe Geologique de France.*

Thb Memoir, of which the following is an abstract, is the result of a
journey through the Northern and Central Governments of Russia in
Europe, made during the summer of 1840, a verbal account of some of
the cliief points of which, accompanied by a new geological map of those
regions, was offered to the public at the last meeting of the British As-
sociation for the Advancement of Science, September 1840.

Introduction. —The authors preface their memoir with a sketch of the
condition of geological knowledge concerning the flat and central coun-
tries of Russia in Europe anterior to their visit, and shew that the early
efforts of Strangwayst had not been followed up by any connected at-
tempt to establish the classification and succession of the older sedimen-
tary deposits on the true principles of the order of their superposition,,
and their distinctions hy organic remains. They point out, however, that
certain elements of the subject had been prepared ; first, by the map and
descriptions of Strangways ; secondly, by the publication of the palseon-
tological works of Fischer de Waldheim, Pander, and Eichwald ; thirdly,
by the recent researches of Colonel Helmersen in the Waldai Hills ; and
fourthly, by the important zoological distinctions indicated by M. Leo-
pold de Buch, who, on hearing of the plan of the voyage of the authors,
expressed his belief (from the examination of certain fossils alone) that
the triple subdivision of the paliBozoic rocks into the Carboniferous, Old
Red, and Silurian systems, as indicated by Mr Murchison,J would be
found to prevail in Livonia and Courland.

After alluding to the vast importance to the Russian empire of a cor-
rect knowledge of the subsoil of these flat regions, the authors explained
the scheme which they had devised, before they left their own countries,
for ascertaining the data required. Aware of the two great difficulties
which are opposed to the examination of this region, — the slight altitude
of the masses above the sea, and the vast quantity of drift or the sliglit
superficial detritus, which obscures the fundamental rocks, — they over-
came these obstacles by examining, in succession, the banks of the rivers
between the longitude of St Petersburgh and of Archangel, which, flow-
ing from N.N.W. to S.S.E., or transverse to the only apparent lines of

* A copy of this interesting abstract was sent to us by our friend Mr
Murchison previously to his leaving England for the Continent — Edit,
t Geol. Trans. t Silurian System and Map.

VOL. XXXI. NO. LXI. JULY X841. I

130 Murchison jftid Verneull on the Geological Structure

elevation, might be expected to offer tlic evidences required. They also
ascended the great Dwina, from the White Sea to Oustiug Yeliki ; and
afterwards extended their researches to the south of Nijnii Novogorod,
in order to determine the relations of the secondary rocks to those older
deposits with which they had become familiar.

In terminating these introductory explanations, theauthors dwelt with
pleasure on the valuable assistance they had received, particularly in the
early part of their tour, from the Baron A. de Meyendorf,^ now execut-
ing, by order of his Imperial Majesty, a statistical survey of Russia, who
endeavoured to combine geology and natural history with the chief ob-
ject of his expedition by attaching to it two excellent naturalists. Count
Keyserling and Professor Blasius. They further testified their warm
thanks to the Russian minister the Count de Cancrine, who specially
aided this geological inquiry ; and they also acknowledged their obliga-
tions to Count Nesselrcde, Count Alexander Strogonoff, Baron Hum-
boldt, Baron Brunnow, and General TchefFkine.t They further expressed
their sense of the value of the services of a zealous young geologist.
Lieutenant Koksherof. without whose aid the authors could not have ac-
complished their task. A geotegical map and sections illustrated the de-
scription, and the characteristic fossils of each group were laid u]3on the
table.

Crystalline Rocks, Metamorphic Hocks, Trap Rocks, Physical Geogra-
phy, <Sfc. — Before they proceed to describe the sedimentary deposits in
their order from S. to N., or from the older to the younger strata, the
authors mention some peculiar varieties of gneiss which occupy the little
islands of the White Sea near Onega, one of which is charged with gar-
nets. They then give a brief sketch of the altered condition of the sedi-
mentary strata on the western shore of the lake Onega, where they are
pierced by masses of greenstone and trappean conglomerate.

A few words explain how the Waldai Hills, the great watershed of
Central Russia, afford the best means of reading off the succession of the
older strata. The rivers Msta, Wolkoff, Siass, &c., which flow from the
south to the north, having short courses, necessarily occupy deeper rents,
and therefore expose on their banks better sections than those streams,
which, descending on the other side of the crest, glide along on a very
slightly-inclined plane to the south. By examining the banks of the
north-flowing rivers, the older formations were found to succeed each
other in the following ascending order : —

1 . Silurian Rocks. — The oldest sedimentary deposits of Russia (those
on which St Petersburgh is situate) are clays, sandstone, limestone, and
flagstone, which from their position and organic remains are considered

* Assisted by M, Zenofief.

t General Tcheffkine, Major-General of the School of Mines at St Peters-
burgh, and Professor Jacob!, of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, were
present at the Glasgow Meeting when the first explanation was offered.

of the Northern and Central Regmis of Bassh. 131

the equivalents of the Silurian system of the British Isles. Tlie detailed
order of these beds was long ago given by Strangwaya ; but at the early
day when he wrote, the study of organic remains was not sufficiently ad-
vanced to enable him to determine the exact place of these beds in the
geological series, nor to point out their true relations to the adjacent
masses. Many of the fossils have since been described by the native
authors, Pander and Eichwald, and recently some very characteristic
forms by M. de Bucli.

The Silurian deposits consist in ascending order, of blue clay, interme^
diate grity and overlying limestone) &c. In the first of these no organic remains
have yet been found ; and the intermediate sandstone or grit is alone dis-
tinguished by a remarkable form unknown in western Europe {the Ungu-
lite), which the authors consider to be nearly allied to Orthis. In the
limestones, and certain overlying. flagstones first described on this occa-
sion, organic remains abound ; and they agree well in the leading cha-
racters on which the Silurian system was established, viz. that the forms
of Trilohite, Orthoceratite, and Orthis, are distinct from the types of the
overlying members of the palaeozoic series.

The most prevalent fossils are the Orthoceratites vaginatus, Asaphus
expansus, lU^nus crassicaiida, the peculiar Crinoidean Spheronites (allied
to the Ischadites of the Upper Silurian rocks), and a vast profusion of
many species of Orthis. Although, upon the whole, the Silurian fossils
of Russia difter more than those of Sweden from British species of the
same age (as might indeed be expected from their more remote distance),
certain shells are identical with those published from England ; among
which are enumerated, Leptcena depressa {L. rugosa, Dalm.), Leptcena
sericea, Lingula Lewisii, Orthis canalis {0. clegantula, Dalm.), &c. ; and
according to M. Eichwald, two or three species of Trilobites.*

With the exception of some very trivial dislocations in the low hills
south of St Petersburgh, the Silurian rocks are so uniformly horizontal,
that in the fine quarries on the banks of the WolkofF, the authors were
able to prove a difference of 2° or 8° to the S.S.E. only by pouring water
on the surface of the rocks.

These Silurian deposits occupy the islands of Oland, Gothland, &c. in
the Baltic, and trend along the shores of Courland in a broad band from
W.S.W. to E.N.E., till they are lost under vast heaps of granitic detritus
between the lakes Ladoga and Onega. Near the latter, these deposits
are deflected to the north, and there meet with great ridges of trappean
rocks, which run from N.N. W. to S.S.E. In that region all the deposits
are iu a metamorphic condition ; the limestones present no distinct traces
of fossils ; and the authors having satisfied themselves that there was no
chance of observing any further evidence of a descending order between
such rocks and the great primarized granitic chain of Scandinavia and

* See Professor Eichwald's work, published since the authors' visit to
Russia, entitled *' Silurische-Scliicbten-system in Estliland."

132 Murcluson and Verneuil on the Geological Structure

Russian Lapland, the boundary of which they coasted, confined their
attention to the ascending order of the strata, wliich is clearly exhibited
on the banks of the WolkofTand at other places.

2. Old Red, or Devonian System. — That the inferior strata are the true
equivalents of the Silurian sj'stem, was determined not onl}'- by their
aspect and fossil contents, but by their being overlaid by other rocks
which are completely identical with the " Old Red System" of the Bri-
tish Isles, as defined by Mr Murcluson.* This system is of great extent
in Russia. It passes from Livonia by the lakes of Ilmen and the Waldai
Hills, and is extended over a vast region to the N.E., where it constitutes
a large portion of the shores of the White Sea. This system consists of
flagstone, clays, marls, cornstoncs, and sandstones, the whole bearing a
considerable resemblance to some red deposits of the same age in our
isles, but difTering by containing copious salt springs, and much gypsum.
It was the occurrence of so much salt and gypsum, that led previous
writers to consider these deposits an equivalent of our new red system,
which, being found to contain the same mineral in the western parts
of Europe, had been even termed by some, the saliferous sj^stem.
That the red deposits (red and green) are, however, the true equivalents
of our old red sandstone, is demonstrated, not only by order of superpo-
sition, but also by the many organic remains which they ofTer. Fishes
are the most distinguishing fossils of this great Russian system, and among
these are^pecies (notably the HoloptycMus nohilissimus, Murchison, with
the Coccosteus, Diplopterus, and Ctenoptychius of Agassiz), forms which
occur in deposits of the same age in Scotland. The fishes are in abund-
ance, and a work, illustrative of them, ^ is now preparing by Professor
Asmus, of Dorpat, near which University they abound. The authors
have traced these fisli-beds for a great distance, occupying several stages
in the system, and each stage characterized by peculiar species of ich-
thyolltes.

The zoological contents of this system are also of great value in illus-
trating and confirming the palseozoic classification proposed by Messrs
Sedgwick, Murchison, and Lonsdale ; or, in other words, the evidences
found in Russia leave no doubt that the old red and Devonian systems
of rocks are identical. The Ortkis subfusiformis, O. striata, Spiri/er
cctlcarata, S. trapezoidalis , Prodtictus caperatus, Terehratula prisca (large
var.), and Serpula omphaloides, shells distinct from those of the carboni-
ferous system, but similar to those which occur in Devonshire, West-
phalia,. Belgium, and other places (in deposits which have been shewn by
these authors to be of the age of the old red sandstone), are found in
Russia in the same beds with the fossil /ishes of the old red sandstone of the
British Isles.

Still more striking, observe the authors, are these cumulative proofs,
•when it is stated^ that although in France and Germany there are scarcely

* See Silurian Researches^ p. 165, and Table with the Map.

of the Northern and Central Begions of Russia. 133

any litliological equivalents for the British old red system, yet, that, in
extending researches far to the east, this member of the series is found
to resume very many of the same mineral characters which distinguish it
in the central and northern parts of the British Isles ; and then under
similar conditions it contains the ichthyolites of the British deposits.

3. Carboniferous System, — In the northern regions of Russia, the lower
or calcareous part only of the carboniferous system exists, which in the
Waldai Hills, near Wytegra, on the Onega, and in many other places, is
seen to overlie the old red sandstone. The inferior beds consist of in-
coherent sandstones and bituminous sliale, which sometimes contain thin
beds of impure pyritous coal, and impressions of several plants well
known in the carboniferous system of our own islands. These are sur-
mounted by various bands of limestone, the lowest of which only have
occasionally some mineralogical resemblance to the mountain limestone
- of Western Europe ; other beds being lithologically undistinguishable
from the magnesian limestone of England ; some from a pisolite ; a third
and very prevalent band of considerable thickness is milk-white, and not
more compact than the calcaire grossier of Paris. This white Productus
limestone was traced by the authors from the neighbourhood of Mosco%V
to beyond Archangel (and they ascertained that it ranged far into the
country of the Samoiedes), a distance of not less than 1000 miles. This
formation has also a mineral resemblance to chalk, in being loaded with
thin bands of flints, sometimes concretionary, in which shells and corals
occur. Associated with this formation, on the banks of the Dwina,
about 200 wersts above Archangel, and south of Siisskaia, are splendid
bedded masses of white gypsum, which for many miles present, at a little
distance, all the appearance of Avhite limestone.* With these grand
gypseous deposits in which are occasionally large concretions, two or three
thin bands of limestone alternate, in one of which the authors detected
fossil shells (Avicula) which are new to them. Other peculiar bands
near Ust-Yaga, which are rather higher in the series, contain a Productus
approaching to P. scabriculus, with pectens and corals.

The carboniferous limestone of Russia is highly fossiliferous, and from
the normal and unaltered condition of most of the beds, the fossils are
generally in an excellent state of preservation. Among them are many
well-known British species, the lower beds being distinguished by the
large Productus hemisphceoicus so well known in the same lower beds of
England and Scotland ; and the white beds being loaded with many of
the species published by Fischer, Phillips, antl Sowerby, such as Pj'O-
ductus Martini, P. puncta'us, Sanguinolaria sulcata, Spirifer Mosquensis,
Cardium alceforme, Cidaris vetustus, together with the abundant and cha-
racteristic Russian coral, Cheetites radians (found, according to Mr Lons-
dale, in the carboniferous limestone of Bristol, &c.), and the Lithostrition

* See M. Rolxjrts's.aecpuntTqf these white cliffs, which he supposed io W
Hm9siQlk9*^J3nlktin d€ la SifCt G.€ol d€ France, \B40, ,.

XBi Murchison and Verneuil on (he Geological Structure

fiorifonnxsy one of the most cliaracteristic fossils of the English carbonife-
rous limestone, &c.

Owing to its mineral aspect, the age of this rock had, till within the
last year, been misunderstood ; but Colonel Helmerscn having observed
its position in the Waldai Hills and its association with certain beds of
coal, and having ascertained the nature of the fossils through the exami-
nation of M. von Buch, he first gave out in Russia, that it must be con-
sidered the true mountain limestone. The authors have completely con-
firmed this view, by ascending and descending sections, and have largely
extended it.

Newer Red Formations. — The manner by which the authors were led
to believe in the existence of newer red deposits, forming a vast basin in
the governments of Vologda, Nijnii, Kostroma, is explained at some
length, by describing the ascending section of the Dwina, and by details
relating to the structure of the banks of the rivers Volga, Oka, &c.
Th«y shew that, although this great red series of the central government
agrees with that of the north, in containing salt and gypsum, yet that it
differs from the " old red" group in the lithological and zoological cha-
racters of its marls, limestones, and fine conglomerates, none of the fishes
or organic remains before alluded to being anywhere discoverable. In
expressing their suspicion that this newer red system may be found event-
ually to contain the equivalents of the upper coal measures, lower new
red sandstone {rothe-todte liegende), magnesian conglomerate, Zechstein,
and the Trias of German geologists, the authors reserve their opinions on
such details until they have accomplished a tour to the Ural Mountains,
on the western flanks of which they hope to detect the evidences re-
quired; it being very diflScult to trace the exact sequence in the flat
and obscure regions over which they followed these deposits to so wide
an extent.

Oolitic or Jurassic Series. — Certain rocks of the oolitic series have been
long known to exist in the centre of Russia, and some of the fossils of
this series were sent to England by Mr Strangways.

The beds of black shale which rest at once on the great red formation
along the banks of the Volga, between Kostroma and Nijnii Novogorod,
belong unquestionably to the middle oolite, as they contain Ammonites
and Belemnites, closely approaching, if not identical, in species with
those of the Oxford clay and " Kelloway Rock" of Smith. Other fossils
found near Jelatma, Kacimof, and Moscow, exhibit close relations to the
fauna of the lias, as wel! as to that of the middle and lower oolite.
Having examined a suite of specimens from Moscow, Professor Phillips
confirms the views of the authors, who are disposed to think that the
middle and lower oolite, as well as the lias, are all represented in Cen-
tral Russia simply by beds of black shale with subsidiary courses of
oolitic marlstone, concretions, &c. Near Moscow these shales repose
directly and conformably upon the carboniferous limestone. Among
the fossils of the group on the Volga and the Oka are Ammonites flex-
ittria, 4, Gulicimif A. Konigii, A. subUsvis, with Oryph<3eaf Maccullochii?

of the Northern and Central liegiom of Ruma, 135

&c. Among the fossils from Moscow are Ammonites of many species,
some of which arc figured by Fischer, others are described by Professor
Phillips, for this memoir. Belemnites absolutus {B. sulcatuSj Miller) ;
Serpula tetragona, Sow ; Amphidesma ? donaciforme, Phill. ; Lima pro-
boscidea ? Sow. ; Pecten Fisherii, N. S., Inoceramus duhius, Sow. ; (P.
riigosus, Fischer) Terchratula serrata, Sow. ; T. acuta, Phill. These forms
characterize the lower oolite and lias of the British Isles.

Ferruginous Sand. — The shales of the oolitic series are covered by
ferruginous sands, occasionally green, which contain large flattened con-
cretions of grit (the Moscow millstones) ; but never having observed
fossils in this rock, the authors are unwilling as yet to hazard an opinion
regarding its age. With the exception of certain very recent deposits,
these grits are the youngest solid strata in the northern half of Russia in
Europe.

Chalk. — The cretaceous system is largely developed in the south, near
Simbirsk, and in the Crimea : but on this occasion the authors did not
extend their tour to the chalk districts.

Tertiary Deposits. — The white shelly limestone of Crimea, and its re-
lations to the underlying chalk, have already been described by one of the
authors.""' Such deposits have not yet been discovered in any of the
northern or central regions of Russia.

Post Pleiocene {Pleistocene). — It was formerly the general belief that
the great masses of superficial detritus, whether clays, sands, or blocks,
which cover so very large an area of the northern region, were all refer-
able to one epoch (diluvian), in which the bones of great extinct quadru-
peds were also imbedded. The duration of their journey was not suffi-
cient to enable the authors to make many distinctions of age between
these different masses ; but they have commenced this division by the
discovery of beds of clay and sand on the banks of the Dwina and Vaga,
upwards of 200 miles south of the White Sea, which contain twenty-two
species of shells, many of which still preserve their colours, and which,
having been referred to Dr Beck of Copenhagen, have been pronounced
by him to be all of modern northern species. Mr Lyell states that they
are identical with the Uddevalla group described by him in Sweden.
Mr Smith adds, that these shells are nearly all the same as those which he
has found in various ancient elevated sea-bottoms around the coast of Scot-
land. In referring twenty of these to modern arctic species, Mr G. Sowerby
doubts if a certain Mya has ever been found recent, and states that a
Cardium, approaching to C. ciliatum, is different from any northern form
he is acquainted with, and near to certain Australian types. This disco-
very, in which they were assisted hy Count Keyserling, who accompanied
the authors in their tour to Archangel, is conceived to be of high geologi-
cal interest, as it demonstrates that during the quasi modem period, the
whole of the vast flat country of north-eastern Russia was beneath th«

* M. E, de Vemouil.

136 Murchison and Verneuil on the Geolof/ical Structure

sea for a considerable time, the eastern boundary of that sea being probably
the slopes of the Ural Mountains.

Drift and Erratic Blocks. — Overspreading all the formations, and greatly
obscuring them, is a vast mass of detritus, the large granitic and other
crystalline blocks of which have excited much attention, from the days
of Pallas to the present time. This detritus, the blocks of which have
all been derived from the north, is shewn to have been deposited under
the sea, or, in other words, upon a sea-bottom, since it covers the above-
mentioned shells.

Notwithstanding the obscuration occasioned by this 'wide-spreading
drift, it is stated that the nature of the subsoil, or fundamental deposits,
can often be surmised from the colour of the superficial clay aud sand,
and the materials of small detritus, the surface of the Silurian zone being
gray, that of the old red, red ; whilst the cover of the carboniferous lime-
stone is often charged with many broken flints derived from the under-
lying beds of that formation, some of the siliceous fragments of which
have been transported farther southwards, and spread over the regions
occupied by the newer red and oolitic deposits. Thus, as all the larger
and harder blocks can be shewn to have been carried from the mountains
on the N.N. W., so in passing to the S.S.E. the finer ingredients, or ma-
trix of the detritus, is found to change by the successive additions of
materials derived from the denudation of the different members of the
palajozqic series. There is no instance of any substance having been
transported from S. to N., except by the modern action of streams, and
by local causes dependent on the present configuration of the land. Near
Nijnii Novogorod large blocks of a very peculiar trappean conglomerate
were detected, which had been derived from a rock in situ N. of Petra-
zowodsk, a distance of nearly 600 miles. In endeavouring to account
for the immense distances to which these blocks had been transported, the
authors expressed their belief that they had been floated in former ice-
bergs, which, breaking loose from ancient glaciers ivhich they suppose have
existed in Lapland and the adjacent tracts, were dislodged upon an eleva-
tion of the northern chain, and impelled southwards into the sea of that
period in which the post-pleiocene shells, to which allusion has been made,
were accumulated. In the relation of the blocks to the sea shells, they
conceive that Central Russia presents an exact parallel (though on a
much grander scale) to the phenonjena described by one of the authors
in the central counties of England, vfherc y similar collocation was ac-
counted for, by supposing that the northern l&locks were borne thither in
vessels of ice, which in melting dropped them upon what was then a sea-
bottom*

Glacial Action. — After alluding to the works of Sefstrom and Bofclingk
upon the supposed '^ diluvial" currents of Scandinavia and Lapland, as
evidenced by the parallel strise and polishing of the Surface of the hard
rocks of these regions, the authors describe the most southerly of the

* Silurian %5leni; p* 635^ tf»' ccq.

of the Northern and Central Beg ions of Russia, 137

scratches, M-hich came under their notice near Petrazowodsk, on the lake
Onega, no such markings having any where been observed in Central
Russia. They then examine the applicability of the glacial theory, as
proposed by M. Agassiz, to the tracts of Russia under revicvi^. Starting
from what they conceive to be an axiom, that the advance of every mo-
dern glacier depends upon the superior altitude of the ground behind it,
they shew, that if certain parallel strice, observed by M. Botlingk, and
others noted by themselves, are to be taken as proofs of the overland march
of glaciers, such bodies must often have been propelled /rom lower to higher
levels. For the proofs of this they refer to the eastern sides of the Both-
ninn Gulf, where M. Botlingk found the striae (*' diluvial schrammen")
directed in common with the boulders from N. W. to S.E. ; and yet any
glaciers which bore these blocks must have advanced from Scandinavia,
across the Baltic Sea, and then have ascended the rocky tract in question.
Again, near Petrazowodsk, in the isles of the lake Onega, the authors ob-
served such strisc exactly parallel to the major axis of the lake, N.N.W.
and S.S.E., even from a good many feet under the clear fresh water, and
thence rising to the height of twenty feet above the summer. level of the
lake on the sloping surfaces of the roek. They then argue, that in this
tract there are no hills of suiRcient altitude on the N.N.W. to account
for the determined forward direction to the S.S.E. ; and as a still further
reason for rejecting the application of the "'Alpine glacial theory" to this
country, they add, that as the striae in one region have all a given and
parallel direction, so must the supposed glacier not only have moved on
as^ it were without a cause, but also have maintained an incredibly enor-
mous advancing front of many hundred miles in length !

Without pretending to offer a complete solution of so difficult a pro-
blem, and after stating that many additional and even experimental re-
searches are required in relation to the power of water, drift, and ice,
tliey cannot avoid suggesting, as a probable explanation of the chief phe-
nomena in the North of Russia, that currents strongly determined in given
directions by the elevation of the northern continental masses, might dis-
lodge and set in movement icefloes and detritus, which, grating upon the
bottom of a sea, may have produced the parallel stricv. They are the more
confirmed in tliis hypothesis, by the fact, that the longer axes of the lakes
and stony ridges of the Northern Russia have generally the same direction ;
so that the supposed icebergs and land detritus would necessarily be borne
in that direction. By adopting this view, the existence of the post-pleio-
cene shells of the Vaga and the Dwina, and their relations to the overly-
ing drift from the north, are in harmony; and whilst admitting so much
of the glacial theory as to allow, that in former days glaciers probably
advanced farther to the south and occupied many insulated tracts, and
to a much greater extent than at the present day, the geologist, they con-
ceive, is alone called upon to define and limit the area of land in Scandi-
navia and Lapland, once covered with solid ice, in doing which he must
^f oouree exclude from such agency the vast c&untrics bow covered t>y

138 Murchison and Verneuil on (he Geological Structure

erratic blocks, which he can demonstrate were deposited upon the bottom
of the sea.

Angular block-ridges on lake and river Banks. — On the western shore of
the great lake of Onega, the attention of the authors was directed by
Colonel Armstrong," to three parallel ridges of large angular blocks of
hard grit (old red sandstone?), which occur at heights, varying from 20
or 30 to 150 feet or more above the level of the water. As these blocks
were identical in composition with the solid subjacent rock, and also quite
angular, it was at once evident that they had not been drifted, but simply
rent from the solid rock which forms that side of the lake. On a first in-
spection, the authors were disposed to think that these appearances might
have been caused by upheaving or vertical shocks of earthquakes, which
they presumed might be among the last signs of the great igneous action
which had once been so dominant in these northern tracts ; and they were
unable to account for them satisfactorily, until they detected the results
of modern action of river ice, which completely explaijied the lacustrine
case.

About 80 miles above Archangel they met with a ridge of large angular
blocks of white limestone piled up between the road on which they tra-
velled and the river edge, and about 20 or 30 feet above the stream. Hav-
ing ascertained that this great river was periodically subject to occasional
extraordinary rises in the spring, and that on those occasions it bursts
and throws up upon its banks blocks of ice to heights of 20 or 30 feet
above its ordinary level, they had at once a solution of the phenomenon ;
for the blocks of white limestone had evidently formed parts of the sub-
jacent strata, which, projecting into the mud and water on the edge of
the Dwina, had been first entangled in ice, and rent ofi" at their natural
joints upon the expansion of the ice by which they were upheaved into
their present position, taking their present irregular talus shape when the
ice melted away from them. Believing, therefore, that the angular ledges
on the lake of Onega were similarly formed, the authors see in them the
proofs of the lakes of Northern Russia having formerly stood at much
higher levels, from which the waters, they suppose, have been let off by
successive elevations of the land ; and they further think, that the dimi-
nution of shallow lakes, and the conversion of marshes into land within
the historic period in Northern Russia, strongly corroborate the rise of
this portion of the earth.

Conclusion. — In recapitulating the chief points of the first and prac-
tical part of their Memoir, wherein they establish, they trust on a sound
basis, the general classification of the PalcBOzoic rocks of Russia in Eu-
rope, the authors remark, that the fact of some of the deposits of such high
antiquity being found to stretch in horizontal and almost unbroken sheets
over spaces of 1000 miles in length, in a very slightly solidified or lapidi-
fied state, is the more interesting when coupled with the absence, through-
out the same regions, of all plutonic or igneous rocks. This phenomenon
must, it is conceived, exercise considerable influence upon geological

* Director' of the Impciial Iroa Foundries of Feiraxowodsk.

of the Northern and Central Begi&ns of Bussia. 139

theory, it being now apparent, that the lithological nature of the most
ancient subsoil of Russia in Europe is such as to compel geologists to re-
ject the conclusion, that, in proportion to their antiquity, the strata have
been hardened or crystallized by any general radiation of central heat ;
for in these wide tracts such crystalline and hardened state is clearly seen
to be purely metamorphic, and dependent exclusively on the vicinity of
rocks of igneous protrusion, in receding from which to the south all
the strata described are at once found in their normal soft condition.

In taking leave of the Societ}^ the authors explain some of the chief
objects of their journey to the Ural Mountains, Orenburg, &c., on which
they were about to proceed.

P.S. After these sheets were sent to press, Mr Murchison received
letters from his friends and fellow-travellers, the Baron A. de Meyen-
dorf and Count A. Kej^serling, in which the researches of these gentle-
men in the south of Russia are explained. These letters communicate
important additions to the results already offered to the Geological Societj^
particularly in regard to the extension and development of the carbonifer-
ous system. The geological map which has been prepared by their la-
bours, and from those of other Russian authorities, agrees with that of
Mr Murcliison and M. de Verneuil, exhibited to the Society, in the funda-
mental classification of the rocks which occupy the northern and central
governments of Russia, and in the lines of demarcation between the
Silurian, Devonian or Old Bed, Carboniferous, Newer Red, and Oolitic
Sf/stetm J but it is copiously enlarged, by shewing the extension of the
carboniferous system over a very wide area, ranging from near Witepsk,
by the south of Tula and Kaluga, to the S.E. of Cazan. A vast spread
of chalk and tertiary deposits directly overlies these carboniferous lime-
stones, which rise again from beneath these younger formations in the
great carbonaceous tract of the Donelz, the southern edge of which
consists of the granitic steppe. A section made by Count Keyserling
and Professor Blasius to the south of Kaluga, indicates a succession
from what these naturalists believe to be the lower beds of the carboni-
ferous limestone, containing the Spirifer Mosquensis, into superior strata
of sand and shale with coal, subordinate to bands of limestone containing
the Productus hemisphcericus, the coal being associated with much red
earth, and overlaid by the upper carboniferous limestone. They also
express their belief that the millstone grits which have been alluded to
near Moscow must be considered of tertiary age, as similar beds overlie
true chalk.

Mr Murchison takes this opportunity, in the name of his friend M.
de Verneuil and himself, of recording his sense of the value of the ad-
ditional data which are due to the labours of Baron de Meyendorf and
his associates, and trusts that after an exploration of the flanks of the
Ural, and other tracts near Orenburg and in the south, all the chief facts
will have been obtained for the construction of a general geological
map of Russia in Europe*

140 On the Artesian Well of Grenelle.

Count Kej^serling", who. has traced the shales with Ammonites near
Ust-Sisolsk (N. Lat. 61°, E. Long. 51°*), has indeed contributed most
powerfully to these results, both by his patient observation, sound know-
ledge of natural history, and by his barometrical admeasurement of
heights, — a point of great geological importance in those, central parts of
tlie country where the strata are not deranged. By one of his observa-
tions, it appears, that the younger pleioccne deposits on the Dwina, which
he detected in company with M. de Verneuil and Mr Murchison, are
about 150 feet above the White Sea. Count Keyserling, now at St
Petersburgh, will accompany the authors in their journey to the Ural
Mountains this summer.t

I. On the Artesian Well of Gretielle. By M. Walferdin.

We have all.lieard. with the greatest interest, of the com-
plete success which M. Mulct has obtained at Grenelle. After
seven years of continued exertion, and after having surmounted
difficulties of whose amount it would not have been prudent to
speak during the course of the operation, M. Mulct at length,
on the 26th February 1841, at half-past two o'clock, had the
satisfaction of seeing burst forth from a depth of 548 metres,
the water which he was in search of, in the green sand under
the Gault.

The jet of water springs up with an abundance which sur-
passes every hope that had been formed ; for it yields no less than
4,000,000 of litres in the twenty-four hours.. The temperature
was not determined byM. Arago and myself till the following
day, the 27th ; and the state of the basin into which the water
flowed, not admitting of an accurate direct determination of
the temperature of the jet, a bucket was placed in the basin
which was immediately filled with the green sand brought up
in abundance by the water. After allowing the thermometer
to remain 30 mhiutes in this basin, it indicated 27° 6' Cent.
(81°. 68Fahr.)

I propose to continue daily the observations on the tempe-
rature, in order to study the differences which may occur ;
these observations shall be made with all desirable precision,
when it becomes possible to place thermometrical instruments
in the jet itself, and thus to read oif the results directly.

* Similar Jurassic beds had been previously observed by Colonel Ilel-
mcrsen in the' N. Ural,, I^at. 64° north.

t Ahctracted/ron the ilfp<jrl vf the Briiich Acsodalijn fuv ihc Ailvanccmait
cf S<knc^/or 1840^ and from a Momir nadbf/or€ tU Qeoiogictd Society qf Lon»

On the Artesian Well of Grenelle, 141

We all know that it was owing to the influence of M. Arago
that the vote .of the Municipal Council of Paris was obtained
for the continuation of the boring operations from the depth
of 50O rtietveg to that of 600. It was doubted at that time if
the water would rise to the surface ; and one of the reasons
which decided the vote was, the ascent of water in tJie wells
boi^^ed at Elbeuf, by which water was obtained from the sub-
terranean sheet of water which was sought for at Paris. M.
Arago was sure that the water at Elbeuf could rise to a height
of from 27 to 30 metres above the surface^ which itself is 8
metres above the level of the sea. Now, the surface at Gre-
nelle being 31 metres above the level of the sea, the compa-
rison between these two points gave him reason to hope that
^he column of water "would rise to the surface at Paris. •

It may be remembered, on the other hand, that in 1839 I was
enabled to confirm this result by means of other considerations.
I searched for the limit of the chalk in a south-easterly direc-
tion from Paris, by ascending the natural inclination of the
waters at the surface of the ground, and which is indicated
by the course of the Seine and by that of the Marne. The chalk
ceases in the environs of Troyes ; the marls and the clays of
the Gault, which the borer then traversed at Grenelle, suc-
ceed the chalk, and the green sands make their appearance
near Lusigny, where they form the orifices through which the
waters begin to infiltrate. Thus, the height to which the
water penetrates near Lusigny, of 130 metres above the level
of the sea, and the other levels of the green sands to the SE.
and NE., presenting themselves sometimes at still higher ele-
vations, I was able, by comparing them wdth the surface of
Grenelle, which is 31 metres above the level of the sea, to
come likewise to the conclusion that, when the borer should
reach the water sought for at Paris, the water ought to rise
sensibly above the sm*face of the ground.*
II. Section of the Bore of the Artesian Well of Grenelle^ with ex-

plantory notes. Communicated by Sir John Robison, K.H.

F.R.S.E., &c.

The bore passes through strata of various kinds, such as,
* Bulletin de la Soci^to Geologiqae de France*

14^

On (he Artesian JTell of Grenelle.

alluvial matter, sands and gravels, clays and lignites, chalk,
hard chalk, and chloritic chalk. At the lower part of the bore,

On the Artesian Well of Grenelle. 143

the following strata have been found, viz. green and grey clays

{a in the section) ; a bed of fine sand, containing water (6) ;

gravel and rolled stones (c) ; and a calcareous and argillaceous

bed «).

The following dimensions of the bore are given in French

metres : —

From the surface to the commencement of the first tube, 2'".30

Length of the first tube, 148

Length of the second tube, 207

Length of the third tube, t>9

Length of the fourth tube, 113.70

, From the extremity of the tube to the bottom of the bore, 7

Total, 647™.
Or 1794i English feet.

The diameters of the different tubes are indicated in the figure,
and are respectively, proceeding from above, 0™.31; 0™.27;
0^.22 ; and 0'".162. It thus appears that the diameter of the
highest tube is about a foot English, and of the lowest about
6 inches.

The quantity of water thrown up is estimated at 4,000,000
litres per diem, or in round numbers nearly 880,000 imperial
gallons.

It appears from the analysis of M. Pelouse, member of the
Institute, that the water is purer than that of the Seine.

The temperature of the water is 28° Cent. =82°.4 Fahr.

The expense up to the time when the water first made its
appearance amounted to, ... 262,375 francs.

The copper-tubes will cost, . . 40,000 do.

Total, 302,375 francs.
Or upwards of L.12,000 Sterling.

The letter X marks the point where it is intended to com-
mence the series of internal tinned copper-tubes, which are to
be isolated from the iron by means of rings of tow impreg-
nated with bitumen, and fixed to the inferior tube en tole by a
screw, in which will be applied an oily varnish as well as a
band of caoutchouc. These tubes are indicated by the inner
dotted line.

( 144 )

Fossil Fish in the Collections of the Earl of Enniskillen and Sir Phillip

Grey Egerton, Bart.*

GENC9 AND Species.

Formation.

Locality.

Genus and Species.

Formation.

Locality.

Acanthodcnna spi-
nosum . . .

Acanthopleurus ser-
ratus . . .

Acanus arcuatus .
oblonjjus . .

Black Schist

Do.

Do.
Do.

Engi.

lb.

Acipensei- Toliapicus

Acrodiis Aiiningise .
Braunii ....
Gaillanloti . .
gibberulus . .
latiis . . . .
Ifciodus ....
minimus . . .
nobilis . . . .

Acrolepis aspcr . .
Sedg^vickii . .

jEtobates irregularis

Amblypterus eup- J

terygius . . ]

lateralis . . .

latus . . . .

macropterus . .

Amblyunis macros- 1
tomus . . j

Anenchelum dorsale
Glarisianum . ,
heteropleurmn .
isopleurum , .
latum . . . .

Lo^idon clay

Lias . . .
Gres bigarrd
Mttschelkalk
Lias . . .
Do. . . .

Great Oolite .
Muschelkalk ?
Luis ....

Kupfer-scluefer
Mag. Limestone

London clay .

Coal formation

Do. . • . . .
Do

Do

Lias . . . .

Black Schist .

Do

Do

Do

Sheppy.

Lyme Regis.
Deux Ponts.
llayreutli.
Lyme Regis,
lb.

Stonesfield.
Axmouth.
Lyme Regis.

Mansfeld.
Ferry Hill.

Sheppy.

Lebach.

lb.
lb.
lb.

Street.

Engi.
lb.
lb.
lb. .

Do.

lb.

Asx>idorliynchus 1

acutirostris ;

Anglicus . . .

Comptoni . , .

mandibularis . .

Asteracanthusorna- I

tissimiis . -. j

semisulcatus . .

Asteroptythius or- 1

natus . . I

Atherina macroce- 1

phala . 1 . ]

Aulolepis typus . .

Belonostomus aciitus

leptostfcus . . .

MUnsteri . . .

tenellus . . .

OoUte

Lias .
Chalk ?
Oolite

Kimmeridgc clay
Great Oolite .

Carb. Limestone

Eocene , .

Chalk . .

Lias . . .
Great Oolite
Oolite . .
Lias . . .

Solenbofen.

Whitby.

Brazil.

Soleuhofen.

Shotover.
Stonesfield.

Armagh.

Monte Bolca.

Kent.

Whitby.
Stonesfield.
Solenbofen.
Lyme.

Bcryx microcephalus
ornatus . . .
radians . . . .

Chalk
Do. .
Do. .

Kent.

lb.

lb.

Blochius longirostris

Carangopsis dorsalis
latior . . . .

Eocene

Monte Boh

Cai'charias grosse-

serratus . .

macrodon . ,

megalodon . .

megalotis . .

minor . . .

polygyrus . .

productus . .
subserratus

Cheiracanthiis mi-

crolepidotus

minor . . .

Cheirolepis Cum-

mingiae . .

Traillii . . .

Caturus furcatus . .

macrodus . . .

macrurus . . .
maximus

microchirus . .

pachyurus . . .

pleiodus . . .

Ceratodus altus . .

gibbus . . . .
planus ....

Chimsera Agassizii .
brevirostris . ,
Colei ....
Egertoni . . .
Mantellii . . .
neglecta . . .
Owenii ....
Townshendii • .

Chomatodus cinctus
linearis ....
truncatus . . .

Chondrosteus aci- I
penserides . j

Cladocyclus Gardner!
Lewesienis . .

Cladodus mirabilis .
striatus ....

Clupea Beurardi . .

Tertiary beds

Do. . . .

Do. . . .

Do. . . .

Do. . . .

Do. . . .

Do. . . .

London clay

Oolite . .

Do. . . .

Do. . . .

Do. . . .
Do. . . .
Do. . . .

Great Oolite

Muschelkalk ?
Do. . . .

Do.

Maryland.

lb.

.Malta.

Maryland.

lb.

lb.

Malta,

Sheppy.

Eichstadt.

Solenbofen.

lb.

!b.

ib.

lb.

Stonesfield.

Aust.

Ib.

Ib.

Old Red
Do. . ,

Green sand
Gault . . .
Great Oolite .
Kimmeridge clay
Chalk . . .
Great Oolite .
Do

Purbeck stone

Carb. Limestone
Do. . . .
Do. . . .

Lethen.
Stromness.

Lethen.'
Stromness.

Maidstone.

Folks tone.

Stonesfield.

Shoti.ner.

Sussex.

Stonesfield.

Ib.

Garsinj'ton.

Lias .

Chalk? .
Do. . .

Carb. Limestone
Do. . . .

Tertiary beds

Bristol.

Ib.

Armagh.

Lyme.

Brazil.
Kent.

Bristol.
Annagli.

Lebanon.

* We arc in^ebt(kl to Sii* Phillip Orey Egerton for a copy of this valuable docuraent.—EDiT.

Earl of Eimisklllen and Sir ThiUip Grey Egerton^ Bart, 146

GcN'DS AND Species.

JluiHU brevis . .
catoi)yg<>iitera
nugnpU-rn . .
iniiuitu .
Stlit'uehzeri .
teuuistiima

Cobitis ecphnlotcs

Coeeosteufi latus .
oblon''us . .

Cochliodus ncutus
fontortus . .
majjnus . . .
oblongus . .
striatus . , .

Formation.

Black schist
Eocene . .
Black schist
Eocene . .
Black schist
Pleistocene

Tertiary beds

Old Red .
Do. . . .

Carb. limestoHe

Do

Do

Ctelr.c-aathus gracilis
}?ranulatus . .
lepturus . . .

Coeloponia Colei . .
luive

Conodus I'erox . .

Coitus brevis . .

Ctenacanthus brevis
lieterogynis . .
major ....
teuuistriatus . .

Clenolepis cyclus

Ctcnoptychius apicalis

dentatus . . .

marginalis . . .

pectinatus . . .

rad leans . . .

sugit talus . . .

scrrutus . . .

Lias . . . .
Tertiary beds .

Carb. limestone
Do

Do.

Do

Great oolite .

Coal-shale . .
Carb. limestone

Do

Coal-shale . .
Carb. limestone

Do

Do

Cybium macropomum

Cydurus minor . .

Dapedius arrnatus .
CoKi ....
graniilatus . . .
mioaus ....
orbis ....
politiis ....
puuctatus . . .

Deutcx breviccps . .

Dercclis clongatus .

Diodon crinaceiis

ScilUu . . . .

Diplacantluis crassi-
spinus . .
longispinus
striatulus . .

Diplodus gibbosus .

Carb. limestone
Do

Mag. limestone
Coal-shale . .

London clay .
Do

Locality.

Engi.

Monte Bolca.
Engi.

Mont« Bolca.
Engi.
Siofly.

CEningcn.

Stromness.
Lethen.

Armagh.

Bristol.

Annagli.

Armagh.

lb.

Ferry Hill.
Leeds.

Sheppy.
lb.

Lyme.

GBningen.

Bristol.
Armagh.
Bristol,
lb.

Stonesfield.

Staflford,

Armagh.

lb.

N. Wales.

Armagli.

lb.

lb.

London clay

Tertiary beds

Lias . . .
Do. . . .

Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.

Eocene

Chalk

Eocene . .
Tertiary beds

Old Red
Do. . .

Do. . .
Coal'Shale

ijhcppy.

CEnlngen.

Lyme.

lb.

lb.

Whitby.

Barrow.

Lyme.

lb.

Monte Bolca,
Kent.

Monte Bolca.
Malta.

Stromness.'

Lethen.
lb.

Staffordshire.

Genus and Species.

Diplopterus borealis
carbonarius . .
macrocephalus .

Old Red
Coal, shale
Old Red

Diptcrus macrolepi-
dotus

rolepi- 1

Duclor leptosomus .
Enchodus halocyon .
EphippuB longtpennis

Esox lepidotus . .

Eugnathus chirotes .
fasciculatus . .
microlepidotus .
minor . ; . .
omatus . . ...
orthostomus . .
polyoduu . . .
scabriusfulus . .
speciosus . . .
tenuidens . . .

Formation.

Do.

Eoccno . .
Chalk . .
Eocene . .
Tertiary beds

Lias
Do.

Oolite

Lias

Do.

Do.

Do.

Do.

Do.

Do.

Eurynotus crenatus .

Fistularia Koenigii .
tenuirostris . .

Galeus aduncus . .

appendiculatus .

falcatus . . .

pristodontus . .

semiserratus . .

serratus . . .

Gasteronemiis \

rhombeus . j

Glyptocephalus )

radial us . . ]

Gljptolepis leptop- )
terus ... 3

Gobio analis . . .

Goniognathus cory- 1

phienoides . )

maxillaris . . .

Gyracanthus formosus
tuberculatus . .

Gyrodus angustus .
Ifevior ....
trigonus . . .

Coal-formation

Black schist .
Eocen . . .

Molasse . . .
Planerkalk . .
Chalk . . .
Do

Gyrolepis Albertii .
Rankini . . .
tenuis trial us . .

Gyrostcus mirabilis .

Helodus didymus
Isevissimus . .

Molasse

London clay .

Old Red . . .

Tertiary beds .

London clay .
Do

Coal-shale . .
Do

Chalk . . .

London clay .

Great oolite .

Do.- . . . .

Locality.

Stromness.

Leeds.

Lethen.

Caithness.

Monte Bolca.

Kent.

Monte Bolca.

(Eningen.

Lyme.

Wiitby.

Solenhofen.

Lyme.

lb.

lb.

lb.

lb.

lb.

Street.

Burdiehouse.

Engi.
Monte Bolca,

Soleure.
Stickla.
Kent.
Maastricht.

Muschelkalk ? .
Coal-shale . .
Muschelkalk ? .

Lias . . . .

Soleure.
Monte Bolca.

Sheppy.

Letlien.

CEningen.

Shei»i)y.
lb.

N. Wales.
N. Shields.

Maidstone.
Shepi>y.
StonesReld.
lb.

Axmouth.

Leeds.

Axmouth.

Whitby.

Carb. Limestonei Armagh.
Do Bristol.

VOL. XXXI. NO. LXI. JULY 1841.

146

Fossil Fish in the Collections of the

Genus and Species. Formation. Locality. Genus and Species. Formation. Locality

Helodus mammillaris ICarb. limestone

planus .... Do

simplex . . . ICoal-shale . .

turgidiis . . . ; Carb. limestone

Hemipristis serra

Holocentnira pygoenm

Holoptycliius gra-

nulatas .

Ilibbertii .

minor . .

sauroides .

Ilybodus acutus
carinatus .
dorsalis . .
eusatus . .
formosus
grossispinus
grossiconus
homoprion )
medius J

longiconus
marginalis .
minor . .
plicatilis .
polyprion .
rcticulatus 1

curtus >

incur V us j

strictus ....

Hypsodon Lewesiensis
oblongus . . .
Toliapicus . . .

Isurus macrurus . .

Labrax schizurus

Lamna acuminata
contortidens . .
cuspidata 1
denticulata J *
elegans ....

Molasse . . .
Eocene . . .

Coal-shale . .

Coal- formation
Coal-shale . .
Do

Kimmeridge clay
Lias ....
Great oolite
Lias ....

Do

Great oolite

Lias ....

Muschelkalk .
Great oolite
Muschelkalk ? .

Do

Great oolite

Lates gracilis . . .

Lcbias cephalotcs
crassicaudus . .

Lepidotus fimbriatus

Fittoni . . . .

Mantellii . . .

minor . . . .

notoptcrus . .

palliatus . . .

punctulatus . .

sjmiserratus . .

serratulus . . .

unguiculatus . .

Lepracanthus Colei

Lcptacanthus semis- )

triatug . , j

serratus . . .

Armagh.
lb.

Staffordshire.
Armagh.

Soleure.

Monte Bolca.

Ilhuabon.

Burdiehoiisc.

Leeds.

lb.

Shotover.

yme.
Stoncsfield.
Ljme.

lb.

Stonesfield.

Lyme.

Bayreuth.

Stonesfield.

Axmouth.

lb.

Stonesfield.

Lias . . . .

Purbeck stone

Chalk . . .
London clay .
Do

Black schist

Eocene . • .

Chalk . . .
MolaKse . . .

Do

London clay ,

Eocene . .

Tertiary beds
Do. . . .

Lias . . .
Wcalden .
Do. . . .

Purbeck stone
Oolite . .
Kimmeridge clay
Chalk . .
Lias . . .
Do. . . .
Great oolite

Coal-shale .

Great oolite
Do. . . .

Lyme.

Purbeck.

Kent.

Sheppv.

lb.

Engi.

Monte Bolca.

Sussex.
Soleure.

lb.

Slieppy.

Monte Bolca.

Sinigaglia.
Aix.

Lyme.
Tilgate.
lb.
Purbeck.

Solenhofen.

Boulogne.

Kent.

Whitby.

Barrow,

Stonesfield.

N. "Wales.

Stonesfield.
lb.

Lcptacanthus tenui- 1
spiuus . . J

Leptolepis Bronnii .
caudalis . . .
contractus . . .
dubius ....
filipennis . . .
Knorrii . . .
latus ....
paucispondylus .
polyspondylus
Iiusillus . . .
sprattiformis . .
Voithii ....

Leuciscus gracilis

latiusculus . .

mncruvus . . .

CEningensis . .

papyraceus . .

Licliia prisca . . .

Macropoma Egortoni
Mantellii . . .

Macrosemius brevi- )
i"Ostris . . ]

Mallotus villosus

Megalichthys Hibberti

Megalops priscus

Microdon heyagonus
radiatus . . .

Mugil princeps . .

Myliobates angustus
gyratus ....
B marginalis . .
nitidus ....
Stokesii

Studeri ....
subarcuatus . .
Toliapicus . .

Myriacanthus para-
doxus . .
retrorsus . . ,

Myripi-istis homop-
terygius
lcptacanthus . ,

Nemacanthus brc-

vispinus . .

filifer . . . ,

Nemopteryx crassus
flongatus . . ,

Lias .

Lias .
Do. .
Oolite
Do. .

Lias . . . ,
Oolite . . .

Do

Gi-een sand
Oolite . . .
Green sand
Oolite . . .
Gi'ceu sand

Tertiary beds .

Do

Papier-kohl
Tertiary beds .
Papier-kohl

Eocene . . .

Gait . . . .
Chalk . . .

Great oolite .

Recent beds

Coal-shale . .

London clay

Oolite . . .
Purbeck stone

Tertiary beds .

London clay .

Do

Do

Do

Notogogus Pentlandi

Nothosomus octos- )
typlnus . . )

Molasse . .
London clay
Do. . . .
Cras . . .

Do.

Eocene
Do. .

Great oolite
Muschelkalk ?

Black schist
Do. . . .

Jura limestone
Lia.'; . . . .

Lyme.

Lyme.

lb.

Solenliofi.n.

lb.

Street.

Solenhoftn.

EicliKtadt.

Kelheini.

Soleuhofen.

Kelheim.

Solenhofen.

Kelhciii).

Wurtamburg.

GSuiugen.

Rhine.

CEningcn.

Rhine.

Monte Bolca.

Speeton.
Sussex.

Stonesfield.

Greenland.

Burdiehouse,

Sheppy.

Solenhofen.
Purbeck.

Aix.

Sheppy.
lb.
lb.
lb.

Soleure.
Sheppy.
lb.

Norfolk.

Lyme,
lb.

Monte Boka.
lb.

Stonesfield.
Aust.

Engi.
lb.

[do.]
Torre d'Orlau-

Lyrae.

Earl of Enniskillen and Sir Phillip Grey Egerton, Bart,

Genus and Species.

Formation.

Locality.

Genus and Species.

' Formation.

Locality.

Notidanus microdon

Clialk . . .

Kent.

Palseorhynclmm Ion- )
girostrc . . )

Black schist .

Engi.

primigcnius . .

Molassc . . .

Soleure.

medium . . .

Do

lb. "'^

Odontaspis raphiodon

Chalk . . .

Maestricht.

microspondylum

Do

lb.

Onchus plicatus . .

Carb. limestone

Armagh.

Palimphyes brevis .

Do

lb.

rectus ....

Do

lb.

longus ....

Do

lb.

subulatus . . .

Coal-shale . .

Rhuabon.

Perca Beaumontii .

Tertiary beds .

Aix.

Ophiopsis dorsalis .

Pui'beck stone

Purbeck.

Petalodus Hastingsia;

Carb. limestone

Ticknall.

Oracanthus Milleri .

Carb. limestone

Bristol.

psittacinus . .

Do

Armagh.

minor ....

Do

Armagh.

hevissimus . .

Do

lb.

pustulosus . .

Do

Bristol.

rectus ....

Do

lb.

Orodiis ramosus . .

Do

lb.

Pholidophorus Bechei
fusiformis . .

Lias ....

Lyme.
Castellamare.

Osmeroides Glarisi- )
ensis . . ]

Black schist .

Engi.

Hastingsise . .
latimanus . . .

Lias ....
Oolite . . .

Barrow.
Solenhofen.

Lewesiensis . .

Chalk . . .

Sussex.

latiusculus . .

Lias ....

Lyme.

latus ....

Oolite . . .

Solenhofen.

Osteolcpis arenatus .

Old Red. . .

Gamrie.

leptocephalus

Lias ....

Street.

r.iacrolepidotus .

Do

Orkney.

limbatus . . .

Do

Lyme.

major ....

Do

Lethen.

maci'ocephalus .

Oolite . . .

Eichstadt.

microlepidotus .

Do

Orkney.

minor ....

Great oolite .

Stoncsiield.

onychius . . .

Lias ....

Lyme.

Otodusappendlculatus

Chalk . . .

Sussex.

radians ....

Oolite . . .

Eichstadt.

crassus ....

radiatopunctatus

Do

Solenhofen.

latus ....

Chalk ; . .

MaSstricht.

Stricklandi . .

Lias ....

Barrow.

macrotns . . .

London clay .

Sheppy.

Taxis ....

Oolite . . .

Solenhofen.

obliquus . . .

Do. ... .

lb.

tenuiserratis . .

Green sand

Kelheim.

Crag. . . .

Norfolk.

uraeoides . . .

Oolite . . .

Solenhofen.

. . •

Oxyrliina hastalis

Molasse . . .

Soleure.

Phyllodus irregularis

London clay .

Sheppy.

Mantellii . . .

Chalk . . .

Sussex.

medius ....

Do

lb.

quadrans . . .

Molasse . . .

Soleure.

Toliapicus . . .

Do

lb.

zlphodon . .

Tertiary beds .

Malta.

Pliysonemus subteres

Carb. limestone

Armagh.

rachycormus acuti- )
vostris . . )

Lias ....

Whitby.

Pisodus . . .

London clay .

Hampshire.

gracilis . . .

Do

lb.

latipennis . . .

Do

Lyme.

Placodus gigas . .

Muschelkalk .

Bayreuth.

latirostris . . .

Do

Whitby.

Munsteri . .

Do

lb.

latus ....

Do

lb.

leptosteus . . .
macrurus . . .

Do

Do

Lyme,
lb.

Platax Woodvvardii .

CrasT ....

Norfolk,

V/lOft • • • •

N, s

Do

Whitby.

Platygnathus pauci- 1
dens . . . . j

Old red . . .

Orkney.

PaljEOniscus Blain- 1
villci. . . . 1

Coal-formation

Muse.

Platysomus gibbosus

Kupfer-schiefer

Eisleben.

catopterus . . .

New Red . .

Roan hill.

parvuhis . . .

Coal-shale . .

Leeds.

comtus ....

Mag. limestone

Ferry hill.

striatus . . .

Mag. limestone

Ferry Hill.

Duvernoy . . .

Coal-formation

ZrteibrQcken.

Egertoni . . .

Coal-shale . .

Staffordshire.

Pleionemus macro- 1
spondylus . . J

clcgans ....

Mag. limestone

Ferry hill.

Black schist .

Engi. ,

Freieslebeni . .

Mag. limestone

Ferry hill.

glaphyrus . . .

Kupfer-schiefer

Mansfcld.

Pleuracanthus planus

Coal-shale . .

Leed«.

longissimus . .

Do

lb.

macro pom us . .

Zechstein . .

Ilmenau.[way.

Pleurodus afflnus

Do. . .

Rhuabon. .

macrophthalmus

Mag. limestone

Clarence Rail-

iiiiignus ....

Kupfer-foliiefer

Mansfeld.

Piccilodus Jonesii .

Carb. limestone

Armagh.

Monensis . . .

Coal-shale . .

Anglesea.

obliquus . . .

Do

lb.

llobisoni . . .

Coal-formation

Burdiehouso.

parallelus . . .

Do

lb.

Vratislaviensis .

New Red . .

Ruppersdorf.

sublffivis . . .

Do

lb.

transversus . .

Do

lb.

Palittorhynchum Colei

Black schist .

Engi.

Egertoni . . .

Do

lb.

Pristis Hastingsise .

London clay .

Hampshire.

Glarisianum . .

Do

lb.

Psammodus cornutus

Carb. limestone

Armagh.

latum ....

Do

lb.

porosus ....

Do

lb.

148

Fossil Fish in the Collections of the, S^c,

GENC3 AND Species.

Psammodus rugosus

Pterichtbys cornutus

latiis

Milled . . . .
productus . . .

Ptcrygocephalus pa-
radoxus . .

Ptychodus ncutus .

altior . . .

deciirrcns . .

gibberulus . .

latissimus . .

mammillnris »

polygyvus . .

spectabilis . .

Formation.

Curb, limestone

Old Red . .

Do

Do

Do

Eocene .

Gait . .

Chalk .

Do. . .

Do. . .

Do. . .

Do. . .

Do. . .

Do. . .

Ptycholepis BoUensis

Pycnodus biscrialis
Bucklandi
didymus
discoides

gigas .
Hugii .
latirostris
Mantellii
obtusus .
ovalis
parvus .
rhombus
rugulosus

Pygoeus Coleanus

Pygopterus Hum- 1

boldtii . . )

mandibularis . .

Raia antlqua . . .

Rhacolepis brama .
buccalis ....
latus

Lias . . .

Great oolite
Do. . . .
Do. . . .
Do. . . .

Locality.

Armagh.

Lethen.
lb.

Gamrie.
Lethen.

Monte Bolca.

Folkstone.

Sussex.

lb.

lb.

lb.

lb.

lb.

lb.

Gexus and Species.

Serranus occipitalis .
Smerdis micracanthus

minutus . . .

pygmasus . . .

Sparnodus altivelis .
macrophthalmus .
micracanthus . .
ovalis ....

Formation.

Eocene . . .
Eocene . . .
Tertiary beds .
Eocene . . .

Do

Do

Do

Do

Sphserodus gigas .

N. 6

Jura limestone
Great oolite .

Do

Do

Great oolite .

Do

Do

Jura limestone
Great oolite .

Eocene . . .

Kupfer-schiefer
Mag. limestone

Rhodeus elongatus .

Saurichthys apica- 1
lis .... J

Saurocephalus lanci- \
formis . . J

Whitby.

[tar.
Little Gibral-
Stoncsfield,
lb. [tar.

Little Gibral-
Jura.

Stonesfield.
lb.

Tilgate.
Stonesfield.
lb.

lb. [do,

ToiTed'Orlau
Stonesfield.

Monte Bolca.

Mansfeld.
Ferry Hill.

Crag .

Chalk
Do. .

Do. . . .
Tertiary beds .

Muschelkalk? .
Chalk . . .

Norfolk.

Brazil

lb.

lb.

Sphenolepis cquam-
osseus . . .

Sphenonchus hamatus

Sphyrsena gracilis .

Sphyraenodus eras- 1
sidens . . . )
priscus ....

Spinacorhinus poly- )
spondylus . . J

Strophodus favosus .
magnus ....
reticulatus . .
subreticulatus
sulcatus . . .
tenuis ....

Tetragonolepis con- )
fluens ... J
dorsalis ....
heteroderma . .
Lcachii ....
leiosomus • . .
rnonilifer .
ovalis . . . .
pholidotus . . .
pustiilatus . . .
radiatus . . .

Locality.

Monte Bolca.
Monte Bolca.
Aix.
Monte Bolca.

lb.
lb.
lb.
lb.

Kimmeridgeclay
Jura limestone

Tertiary beds

Lias . . .
Eocene . .

London clay
Do. ...

Lias . . .

Great oolite
Do. . . .
Kimmeridge clay
Inferior oolite
Green sand .
Great oolite

Shotover.
Jura.

Aix.

Sauropsls mordax . Great oolite

^"'*"Zkii^°""" } V"^^^^^ «i^y

cra.ssior .... Do. . . .

Scilliodus antiquus . [ Chalk . .
Lias . . .

Semionotus rhombi
fer . . .

striatus . .

Semiophorus velicans
Serranus microstomus

Do. . .

Eocene .
Do. . .

CEningcn.
Axmouth.

Sussex.

Stonesfield.

f
Sheppy.
lb.

Kent.

Lyme.
Seefeld.

Monte Bolca,

lib.

speciosus . .
striolatus . .

Tetrapterus priscus

Thrissops formosus
salmoneus . .

Thyellina prisca .

Tinea furcata . .

Vomer longispinus

Zygsena dubia . .

New genus . . .

N. S. . . . . .

N. S

N. S

N. S

Lias

Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.

London clay .

Green sand
Oolite . .

Lias . . .

Tertiary beds

Eocene , .

Molasse . .

Eocene . .

Chalk . .

Tertiary bed«

1 Black schist

[Eocene . .

Lyme.
Monte Bolca.

Sheppy.
lb.

Lyme.

Stonesfield.

lb.

Shotover.

Dundry.

Maidstone.

Stonesfield.

Stonesfield.

Gloucestersh.

Lyme.

lb.

lb.

Barrow.

Whitby.

Lyme.

lb.

lb.

lb.

Barrow.

Sheppy.

Kelhcim.
Solenhofen.

Lyme.

OS^niiigen.

Monte Bolca.

Soleure.

Monte Bolca.

Kent.

Aix.

Greenland.

Monte Bolca.

( 149 )

Mean Besults of the Thermometer, and the Quantity of Bain,

for 1840, at Alford, about Lat. 57° 13' N., 420 feet above

the level of the Sea, and 26 miles inland from the Sea at

Aberdeen. J3y the Rev. James Farquharson, LL. D.,

F. R. S. Communicated by the Author.

The thermometer was registered at 9^^ a.m., and 8^ p.m.,
and the extreme highest and lowest of each day and night,
indicated by self-registering thermometers, were registered at
the latter hour. Also the number of fair days, and of days on
which rain or snow fell, more or less.

I

1840.

THERMOMETER.

RAI.V.

Mean

of
Mom.

Mean

of
Even.

Mean

of

Morn &

Even.

Mean of

daily

highest &

lowest.

if

li

Rain

in

Inches.

it

is

W5
Deg.

^■5

Dog.

^

Pi

i DC.

Deff.

Deg.

Deg.

Januai'y, .

1 35.55

36.03

35.79

35.64

48

i'2

2.6

16

15

February,

!36.

35.76

35.88

36.29

45

21

1.75

21

8

March, . .

I^JO.

38.4

38.7

39.9

53

2'*

1.375

18

13

April, . .

49.56

46.

47.78

47.385

70

28

.65

25

5

May, . . .

48.29

45.9

47.095

46.67

70

35

4.

20

11

June, . . .

55.37

54.6

54.985

52.13

70

37

2.05

9

21

July, . . .

55.84

54.16

55.

55.045

68

45

1.975

15

16

August, .

58.3

57.48

57.89

57.027

73

39

1.875

17

14

September.

50.53

48.43

49.48

49.73

65

33

5.85

10

20

October, .

45.

44.

44.5

45.575

55

29

4.5

15

16

November,

39.

38.93

38.965

39.48

51

24

5.075

17

13

December,

36.03

36.9

36.465

37.01

47

26

15

16

Means, . .

45.705

44.715

45.21

45.156

Mean of

year.

34.575
Rain of
the year.

198

168

By morning and evening
observation.

52.038

Mean temp, from April to Sept., |
both inclusive, .... J

Mean temp, of July, Aug., and 1 _ . , „
Sept., both inclusive, . . j *

Deg.

Mean Temperature of 1833, 44.573

... 1834, 47.99

... 1835, 45.93

... 183G, 44.713

... 1837, 44.73

... 1838, 43.0933

... 1839, 44.521

... 1840, 45.156

By daily highest
and lowest.

51 .361

53.933

Mean Ump. of eight ^cars^ 45^0882 37.004 Mean ruin of his. jeari

Rain in
inches.

37.7

45.55

3205

41.25

30,3

34.575

150 Mean Besults of the Thermometer at Alford,

These observations were commenced eight years ago ; and
the hours chosen for them, namely, 9J a.m. and 8^ p.m., were
the two at which the mean temperature of the year had
occurred at Leith, when a series of hourly observations had
been made there about fifteen years ago, at the suggestion of
Sir David Brewster. At 7\lford, however, the yearly tem-
perature at the morning hours has uniformly been found con-
siderably higher than that of the evening ones; shewing that
the hours do not answer here as at Leith. It is highly pro-
bable, however, that the mean between the temperatures of
the two hours is very nearly the mean of the year ; and the
probability seems reduced to a certainty, when the mean of
the two has been found to agree so nearly with the mean of
the daily highest and lowest, which have been registered here
for the first time in 1840. Sir David Brewster having noticed
the registers of the seven previous years, and examined the
temperatures of the morning and evening, and their differ-
ences, has calculated that the yearly mean temperature at
Alford occurs at a quarter before 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. Our
observations will therefore be made at these hours in future ;
and the daily highest and lowest temperature will be con-
tinued, as indicating, with accuracy, not only the mean of
the year, but also that of the months.

No year ever varied more, from time to time, in its promis-
ing or threatening aspect than did 1840 ; exciting alternate
hopes and fears in the agriculturist. The season of sowing
was unusually dry, owing to deficiency of rain from 4th Feb-
ruary to 5th May, and a high temperature, with clear sun
and withering winds in April. In the drought, the hay grass
shot up prematurely to seed, and ultimately turned out a
light crop. At the same time there occurred numerous and
extensive failures in the potato crop, altogether unexampled
in this district, and which could be, with great precision, re-
ferred to the drought ; as they were greatest on the driest
soils, especially where, by the operations of planting, the drills
were longest opened up to the sun and wind, and where very
dry manure was applied. Some instances clearly indicated
an easily applicable means of preventing failure in hke dry
weather for the time to come. Where manure saturated

Mean Besults of the Thermometer at Alford, 151

with liquid was applied, even on very dry land, the crop was
good ; while on the same land, with dry manure, there was a
complete failure. The grain crops at first promised to be
early ; but much rain in May, and cold cloudy weather in
June and July, retarded them greatly, and they were very
late at the beginning of August. During this last month,
and till the 10th of September, unusually fine weather for
the season, enabled the grain crops, even those of them that
were previously much laid, to ripen well. The oat harvest
commenced generally about the middle of September, and
was finished by the middle of October, excepting in very late
places ; and there has been no previous harvest during which
the great advantage of the scythe-reaping was more clearly
manifested. During the one month of harvest, there were
seventeen rainy days ; but the great expedition of the scythe-
reaping, and the elastic open sheaf made by it, enabled the
cultivators to cut down and carry a good grain crop, in the
best order, during the intervening dry days, which were very
windy. The after part of the year permitted the other opera-
tions of the field to be put in a sufficient state of forwardness
before winter.

May 20. 1841. — I have just received from William Craigie,
Esq., surgeon, Ancaster, Upper Canada, a striking confirma-
tion of the fact, that the dryness of the soil was the cause of
the failure of the potatoes here in 1840. He says in a letter,
" I observe the accounts of the failure of your potato crop,
and doubt not simple dryness is the cause. In this dry cli-
mate potatoes in drills often fail. They are, therefore, gene-
rally cultivated in hills, having a cup or funnel in the centre
to catch its fill from every thunder shower — often the only
rain we have — and which would run from the drills without
penetration, and all the dew which runs down the stems, and
is at times very abundant."

152 Mean JResuUs of the Thermometer at Ancaater,

Abstract of Mean Besults from a Begister of the Thermometer,
Barometer, and state of the iVeather, kept at Ancaster, Up-
per Canada, seven miles from the Western extremity of Lake
Ontario, and about 500 feet above its level. By William
Craigie, Esq., Surgeon. Communicated by the Author.

The thermometers are in a northern aspect six feet above
the surfiice of the ground, shaded from the effects of direct
insolation or radiation to the sky, and indicate the tempera-
ture of the stratum of air at that elevation ; their height and
that of the barometer was noted and registered daily at
9 o^clock A.M. and 9 p.m., and for the first four years the daily
maximum and minimum of temperature were noted and in-
cluded in the mean temperature. During the last two years
only the monthly maximum and minimum are noted.

1835

*

THEKMOMETER.

BAROMETER.

Days on
Avhich

Of these

Month.

Slifdit

9A.U.

9 P.M.

Mean.

High-
est.

Low-
est.

Mean.

High-
est.

Low-
est.

or Snow
fell.

Shower:
only on

Tan. . .

26.45

29.42

28.45

47

—6.5

29.18

29.69

28.52

11

4

Feb. . .

19.14

19.96

20.125

49

— 1

29.235

,,.64

,,.72

10

4

March,

31.fx3

;m.30

33.2

61

0

29.2

,,.82

., .67

7

4

April, .

42.57

41.88

42.86

74

22

29.08

,,.53

,,.64

13

6

May, .

55.06

55.-

55.5

SO

34

i9.16

,,.53

,,.80

6

o

June, .

62.37

61.40

62.3

84.5

39

29.165

,,.49

„ .78

13

5

July, .

67.20

66.36

67.26

84

45

29.1S9

,,.50

,,.93

6

3
4
3

Aug. .

64.&4

63.6

64.14

85

45

29.2075

,,.39

,,.91

11

Sept. .

55.—

53.8

54.5

83

35

29.22

,,.67

„ .52

7

Oct. . .

50.5

50.—

50.75

76

30

29.23

,,.63

,,.55

10

4

Nov. .

39.17

37.7

38.99

66

10

29.0075

,,.50

,,.26

10

5

Dec. . .

26.—

26.13

1 25.95

47

—7

29.06

,,.47

,,.60

14

6

Means,

44.99 1 44.96 '45.318

29.16

118

50

* Such accurate registers must be interesting from any country, but nic?ro
especially so from one where there are now so many of our countrymen,
and towards which many more are at present directing their views. On
looking at the splendid summer indicated by these abstracts, and the re-
gular distribution of rain through the months, we cannot avoid the conclu-
sion, that, taking into tlie account, also, the known fertility of the soil.
Upper Canada is, of all the British colonies, the one where our agriculturists
of moderate capital will find scope for their exertions in a region most
nearly resembling our native country in its appropriate productions and
rural industry. The winter is no doubt colder than ours ; but Mr Craigie
in his letter to me accompanying the abstracts, says of it, " You can have
Vui a very faini idea; particularly of our winter, which generally for tbt««i

Mean Ihsidts of the Thermometer at Ancaster*

153

1836.

Month.

Jan. . .
Feb. . .
March,
April, .
May, .
June, .
July, .
Aug. .
Sept. .
Oct. . .
Nov. . .
Dec. . .

THERMOMETEB.

9 a.m. 9 p.m. Mean, "gf''

Means,

Jan. ,

Feb. .

March,

April,

May,

June,

July,

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

26.55

16.83

25.74

43.80

57.—

60.66

68.80

62.226

57.37

41.07

35.53

26.40

26.61

20.86

28.26

40.77

54.36

58.G4

65.9

60.42

56.3

41.13

35.8

28.6

43.415 43.22 43.405

26.08

19.14

27.21

42.434

55.9

59.635

67.24

61.274

57.2

41.185

35.8

27.76

39

50
53
76
81
83
85
82
82
59
54
47

Low-
est.

0
-9

0
23
36
43
62
44
SO
25
14

2

BAROMETER.

Tw»«„ High- Low-
Mean, est. est.

29.047
„ .117
., .1
,,.165
,,.106
,,.096
„ .081
„ .13
».13
,,.056
,..022
„ .082

29.097

Days on

which

any Rain

or Snow

fell.

29.35
„.56
,,.58
.,.52
,,.41
,,.31
,..41
,,.34
,..40
.,.58
,,.46
../40

1837.

28.65
.,.70
,,.65
,,.76
,,.81
,,.86
,,.78
,,.80
,,.57
,..62
,,.55
„.4fi

13
14
13

9
14
17

7

7
12
14

9
15

21.8

24.32

28.84

,40.033

50.—

61.73

64.645

62.93

56.66

44.87

39.68

29.1

24.6
26.07
29.74
40.1
50.6
59.37 I
65.226
62.55 I
56.86 i
45.45 !
41.266
30.48 i

22.95

24.846

Ji9.629

39.766

50.7

61.105

64.963

63.44

57.32

45.89

40.533

29.7

43

44
47
72
73
83
82
80
77
73
61
55

0

18
27
45
48
44
39
26
14
11

28.88

29.007

29.018

28.977

29.024

28.94

28.997

29.04

29.183

£9.182

29.034

29.02

29.34
,,.44
,,.58
„ .30
».40
,,.14
,,.30
,,.32
,,.46
,,.46
,,.50
,,.30

28.22 I
„ .48
,,.66
,,.56
„ .65
„ .56 I
„ .72 j
,,.76
,,.90
„ .78
,,.64
f„.52

143

Of thcpe

slight
Showers
only on

6
5
8
6
7
9
4
5
6
10
3
8

76

Means, 43.716 44.359 442371 | 29.033 j 129 63

During this and the preceding year including, the maximum and mini-
mum increased the mean temperature by .144 and .137 respectively.

1838.

Jan. .

29.58

30.1

30.08

62

8

29.05

29.40

28.57

12

6

Feb. .

15.71

17.96

16.93

36

1

29.02

,,.42

,,.67

7

4

March,

37.36

38.32

38.106

65

15

29.006

,,.45

,,.70

7

3

April,

37.63

38.33

37.98

63

19

28.930

,,.64

,,.42

13

7

May, .

49.226

51.29

50.435

79

32

29.055

,,.30

,,.54

13

4

June, .

65.7

66.07

67.2

85

45

28.998

,,.17

,,.74

8

6

July, .

71.936

71.26

72.348

91

54

29.106

.,.32

,,.85

11

7

Aug. .

68.1

67.516

68.05

86

50

29.135

,,.36

,,.82

9

7

Sept. .

60.766

59.466

60.493

82

39

29.188

,,.41

„.&o

2

2*

Oct. .

46

45.7

45.477

75

24

28.998

,,.53

.52

11

6

Nov. .

31.8

33.133

32.142

53

7

29.083

,,.65

''.60

10

4

Dec. .

23.226

23.84

23.217

41

5

28.936

,,.72

".50

15

10

Means,

44.753^ 45.24^

45.205

1

29.042

118

66

* During the whole mo

nth of

September the

re were only

two ver

y slight

showers.

months is the most pleasant part of the year. There is no diifting — no
depth of snow — splendid travelling — our roads becoming almost as good us
railroads — a good length of day, and a moon nearly as good as the sun.
This is also the great time for business, carrying gi-ain io market, and good*
to the country, not to mention journeying on pleasure. The cold is nolhiii|
f«li in luch a drj^ atmoephcrs.'*— ./nmrt rar^iuhangnt LJLtDn ift.

154 Mr Bowman on the Fossil Trees found on the Line of

1839. 1

Month.
Jan. . .

THERMOMETER.

BAROMETER.

Days on
which

Of these

slight
Showers
only on

9AJf.

9pj(.

Mean.

High-

est.

Low-
est.

Mean.

"eS^-

Low-
est.

any R.iin
or Snow

fell.

26.13

29.1

27.62

52

—7

29.076

29.72

28.48

8

5

Feb. . .

28.464

30.43

29.447

49

2

29.095

,,.48

,,.42

9

5

March,

33.8

33.

33.4

62

5

29.06

,,.55

,,.58

11

5

April, .

51.37

49.47

50.42

78

32

29.091

,,.31

.72

8

5

May, . .

54.68

53.48

54.08

82

30

28.964

,,.30

,,.50

11

4

June, .

60.7

59.8

60.25

83

42

28.945

,,.20

,,.70

12

5

Julj% .

70.55

69.68

70.115

86

53

28.99

,,.22

".67

11

2

Aug. . .

65.9

65.8

65.85

83

44

29.109

,,.41

,,.71

7

4

Sept. .

57.266

56.833

57.05

76

30

29.015

,,.40

,,.68

10

4

Oct. . .

53.55

54.16

53.85

76

29

29.195

,,.60

,,.87

7

4

Nov. . .

37.07

37.7

37.38

52

7

29.073

,,.72

,,.52

7

4

Dec. . .

31.65

32.26

31.95

49

4

28.593

,,.27

,,.40

15

10

Means,

47.594

47.613

47.618

29.047

116

57

184

0.

Jan. . .

20.8 123.32

22.06

44

—5

29.035 1 29.60

28.24

11

4

Feb. . .

31.7

33.663

32.63

60

6

29.11

,,.43

„.50

11

7

March,

38.7

36.97

37.83

60

15

28.93

,,.40

,,.47

6

o

April, .

47.5

47.76

47.63

82

29

29.11

,,.46

,,.56

11

4

May, . .
June, .

59.8

57.84

58.82

87

37

29.055

,,.38

,,.33

8

4

65.56

63.- 164.28

84

47

29.06

,,.41

,,.68

12

8

July, .

70.61

68.1

69.36

89

48

29.115

,,.37

,,.73

7

2

Aug. . .

68.45

66.35

67.4

85

48

^9.043

,,.33

,,.78

13

9

Sept. .

57.23

57.13

57.18

76

34

29.065

.,.36

,..55

9

5

Oct. . .

47.84

48.68

48.26

73

27

29.093

,,.35

,,.73

12

5

Nov. . .

39.6

40.53

40.06

63

18

28.988

,,.37

,,.58

10 .

5

Dec. . .

27.55

28.8

28.175

43

10

29.021

,,.56

,,.38

15

9

JMeans,

47.945| 47.754

47.807

29.052

125

64

Not

E. — The Barometei

L- for t

he firs

t ten months of 183

5 was a(

ijusted

about

one-tenth of an incl

1 highe

r than

it ought to have bee]

1.

On the Fossil Trees found on (he Line of the Bolton Bailwai/,
at Dixon Fold, near Manchester ; and the light they throrv
on several poiiits still undecided among Geologists, By
J. E. Bowman, F.L.S., and F.G.S. Communicated by the
Author.

Though notices of these interesting fossils have abeady ap-
peared in the Proceedings of the Geological Society, and
though a more detailed account is about to be given in the
Transactions of the Manchester Geological Society, it seems
desirable to make them more extensively known, because
they appear to supply important data on several points upon

the Bolton Railway^ at Dixon Fold^ near Manchester. 155

which geologists are not agreed. They ai'e six in number,
and stand nearly erect on a seam of coal nine inches thick, which
lies near the centre of the Lancashire coalfield, declining
about 17° from the perpendicular, which corresponds with the
dip of the strata from the horizontal plane, so that they are
still perpendicular to the plane of the bed. They arc in a
stratum of argillaceous shale which rests upon the coal, and
gradually passes upwards into an ordinary coal-measure sand-
stone ; and of a similar sandstone the trees themselves chiefly
consist.

No. 1 is 8 feet 0 inches high, and at the base has a diameter
of 5 feet, and a little higher of 3 feet. No roots can be seen,
but the swollen base shews that large ones must originally
have existed. At two feet above the base there is a remarkable
horizontal band of blue shale containing many thin plates of
sandstone ; it is about nine or ten inches thick, and, as will be
seen in the sequel, is a very important feature. The surface of
this and all the trees, had, when first discovered, a thin shelly coat
of coal, which has, for the most part, since fallen off ; and the
trunks have the furrowed appearance of decorticated Sigillaria?,
with more or less regular ribs and furrows. At the base only
a few cicatrices or scars could be perceived.

No. 2 is but the base of a large tree with similar ribs and
furrows, with a lateral sinus, the sides of which are strongly
marked wath wavy raised lines, very like the surface of a
gnarled oak after the removal of the bark. But the most im-
portant features of this specimen are its enormous roots, which
strike off from the trunk in different directions, standing
downwards into the coal ; but they are abruptly cut off when
they reach its surface. The principal roots have a diameter
of 20 inches to 2 feet, and their surface is marked with ribs
and fm-rows of a peculiar character.

No. 3, 4, and 6, are smaller, and need no particular notice,
except that the latter is marked with the long prominent scars
of a decorticated Lepidodendron.

No. 5 is a fine specimen, 5 feet 3 inches high, diameter of
the base 3 feet 6 inches, and at the top 2 feet 4 inches. The
main root before it bifurcates has the extraordinary diameter
of 4 feet 6 inches, but this may have been increased by pres-

156 Mr Bowman on (he Fossil Trees found on the Line of

sure. It has a singular concave depression along its whole
length on the north side, as though a cylindrical column, or
parasitical creeper, had been pressed against the trunk while
growing.

Such, very briefly, are the prominent features of these ex-
traordinary fossils, a mere sight of which is sufficient to con-
vince the intelligent observer that they must have grown upon
the spots they still occupy, and could not have been of that
soft succulent nature which many of the gigantic vegetables
of the carboniferous epoch undoubtedly were. Their general
character, size, and robust habit, are precisely those of an aged
tree of the present day, the trunks much widening below,
where the enormous roots strike off, and appearing as the
remnants of a forest of blasted and lifeless oaks, whose trunks
and roots alone survive. Their enormous roots were mani-
festly adapted for taking firm hold of the soil, and, in conjunc-
tion with the swollen base of the trunks, to support a solid
hard-wooded tree of large dimensions and spreading top, and
to enable it to resist violent storms.

From the evidence, therefore, which these fine specimens
present, I shall endeavour to shew, in opposition to the gene-
ral opinion of ^geologists,

1^^, That they, and of course many others of the carboni-
ferous epoch, were solid, hard-wooded, or timber trees.

2d, That they originally grew and died upon the identical
spots where they are now found interred, and have not been
drifted from distant lands.

od. That they have become hollow owing to the* decay of
their wood by natural causes, and have been subsequently
filled with foreign inorganic matter, precipitated as a sedi-
ment from water.

1^/, That they were solid timber trees. It is well known
that all modern dicotyledonous trees in temperate climates in-
crease in thickness by means of a new layer of wood formed
annually between the bark and the alburnum. The furrows
in the bark and the swollen base of the trunk are due to the
expansion caused by this increase. So is the apparent ten-
dency of the main roQts of old trees to rise above the surface of

t^te Bolton Balhvai/^ at Dixon Fold, near Manchester. 157

upper surface, or that most influenced by light and heat. Of
a similar character are the swollen base and spreading roots
of these fossils, the roots diverging downwards at an angle of
29'' with the horizon. But the soft monocotyledons to which
they have generally been referred, have a very different eco-
nomy ; palms and arborescent ferns grov upwards only (not
laterally) and from within ; and instead of the massive forked
and spreading roots of ordinary forest trees, have usually a
dense assemblage of fibres like those of an onion or a hyacinth.
The delicate straight or curved striae ?een on good decorti-
cated specimens of Sigillaria, are so similar to those on the
alburnum of some modern trees as to render it probable that
the fossils had, like them, a separate bark, a character consi-
dered by vegetable physiologists, as proof of a woody struc-
ture. The scars also left by the disarticulation of the leaves
are indicative of a dicotyledonous, if not of a wooded structure.
Analogy, therefore, is in favour of these fossils having been
solid timber trees.

On the bank of a coal-pit in the same neighbourhood, I
found a portion of the trunk of another and similar fossil tree,
principally filled with shale, but having a portion of the in-
terior adhering to the side, which, on being sliced and polish-
ed, exhibited woody structure. My friend, Mr Robert Brown,
kindly undertook to direct proper sections to be prepared, by
means of which that illustrious botanist ascertained that in
the transverse section there was that uniformity of vascular-
ity which is evidence of the coniferous structure. In the
longitudinal section taken parallel to the medullary rays, the
existence of these rays was ascertained, so that the specunens
exhibit proof of dicotyledonous structure, and considerable
probability of that structure being coniferous. But the more
important evidence of discs in the section taken panillel to
the medullary rays was wanting, the vessels having apparently
undergone some alteration. This specimen, therefore, inde-
pendent of the question whether its exterior marldngs cor-
respond with those of the true Sigillaria or not, establishes
the important fact that some of those treeS which are believed

158 Mr Bowman (m the Fossil Trees found on the Line of

to have been originally hollow because we find them filled
with inorganic matter, were in reality solid timber trees. '^

I proceed, 2d, To shew that they have originally grown
and died on the spots where they are found interred, and
have not been drifte \ from distant lands. I have elsewhere
brought forward im^ ortant facts, which render it extremely
probable that coal ha s been formed from a vegetation which
grew on the areas nc \v occupied by the seams ; that each suc-
cessive race of plants vv^as gradually submerged beneath the
level of the water, and covered up by sediment, which accu-
mulated till it formed another dry surface for the growth of
another series of trees and plants; and that these submer-
gences and accumulations took place as manj times as there
are seams of coal. If this theory be true, it seems naturally
to follow that the trees also flourished on the same spots.
The advocates for the Drift theory account for the upright
position of fossil trunks, by supposing that the greater specific
gravity of their base would cause them to assume that posi-
tion when stranded, forgetting that when they touched the
bottom in shallow water, the current which had hitherto
borne them nearly upright, would lay them prostrate. We
must not forget that the fine smooth shale which usually en-
velopes the lower parts of these fossil trunks, could only have
been deposited from tranquil water ; the fine particles of
which it is composed would otherwise have been carried
away, so that this muddy sediment which surrounds them is
a strong proof of the absence of any current. Besides, it ge-
nerally happens that upright trunks are found upon, or a
little above, a seam of coal, whereas, had they been drifted,
the chances are equal that they would as often have been

* I have tlie satisfaction of being enabled to state, that some recent in-
vestigations of Mons. Adolphe Brong-niart go very far to confirm the views
liere advanced. In a letter to myself, dated 21st March last, he says,
" What you tell me respecting your fossil trunks of Sigillaria is deeply in-
teresting, and very well agrees with what I have myself observed in a small
specimen of Sigillaria elegans, the internal structure of which has been
preserved. I have just ^escribed it in a memoir inserted in the first volume
of 'Archives du Museum d'Hist. Nat. de Paris,' in which I have endea-
voured to prove that it lias the nearest affinity in its internal structure to
the Cycadeae, which have essentially the organization of Dicotyledons."

the Bolton Hailway^ at Dixon Fold, near Manchester. 159

tlirown upon shale or sandstone. The subsidence theory, on
the contrary, corresponds with observed facts. If the coal-
seams were once a mass of decayed vegetable matter, this
rich compost would afford the most likely soil for the growth
of trees, as now in tropical forests. The standing out of the
roots above the top of the coal seems to favour this view,
since the vegetable matter, as it underwent conversion under
pressure, would shrink from around them and leave them ex-
* posed ; just as in some bogs in Ireland, Mr Murchison informs
us (Silur. Syst., p. 559), the bases of the trunks of ancient
forest trees may be seen still standing in their natural posi-
tion, " as if on high stilts," with their roots exposed, owing
to the shrinking of the surrounding peat.

Having shewn the great probability that these trees still
occupy their original sites, I have now to prove,

3i/, That they became hollow from the decay of their wood,
and have been subsequently filled up with sedimentary de-
posit after immersion.

Mr Hawkshaw, to whom we are indebted for the preserva-
tion of these fossils, says, in a paper read before the Geological
Society of London, that in the virgin forests of the torrid zone,
the solid wood of fallen timber trees rapidly decays, while the
bark retains its texture and original appearance, and that
in six, nine, or twelve months the wood not only decayed, but
altogether disappeared, so that the bark became a hollow
cylinder, and if struck or trodden on, readily collapsed. M.
Schomburgk informed me, that he repeatedly observed this
fact during four years travels of Surinam, especially in the
low and hot districts. And my friend Gardner in a letter to
me, dated Rio Janiero, 6th December 1840, says, " Nothing
is more common than to meet with the trunks of large trees
lying on the ground, not only in low swampy forests, but also
in the .dense virgin forests of mountain- tracts, covered with,
mosses, ferns, &;c., which to the eye appear quite sound, but
which in reality consist of little more than a thick bark, which
gives way immediately to the weight of the traveller, should
he incautiously step upon it." The concurring testimony of
these scientific naturalists, added to the many evidences we
possess of the high temperature of the coal era, can there-

160 Mr Bowman on the Fossil Trees found on the tine df

fore leave no room to doubt that a similar process then took
place. It must not, however, be lost sight of, that the fossil
trees were standing more or less upright, and immersed in,
though not covered by, water.

After the immersion of the trunk, the boughs and top
would remain exposed to the heat and humidity of the at-
mosphere, and under these unnatural circumstances the tree
would by degrees lose its vital energy and die. Its dead
branches would fall off and leave the wood exposed to decay,
wiiile the mud from the turbid waters would be forming a
compact sediment round the trunk ; incipient fermentation of
the bark would soon commence, bitumenization would suc-
ceed, and at length it would be converted into coal. The
carbonization seems never to have extended to the wood in-
wards, nor the decay to the bark outwards ; it being clear,
from the regular wavy lines seen on good decorticated speci-
mens, that both processes have been arrested precisely at the
union of the liber and the alburnum. I think it, therefore,
probable that, considering the half-immersed state of these
trees, they would struggle for some years between life and
death till their tops were quite destroyed, or till they became
completely immersed by a second subsidence. The carboni-
zation of the bark would probably not take place Where it was
not surrounded by sediment ; and this may explain why
boughs and branches are not found in upright fossil trees.
Every part above the carbonized line would soon perish.

AVe have, then, in these upright immersed trunks, so many
hollow cylinders or moulds, ready to receive the sediment from
the turbid waters. The process of filling up would commence
as soon as the top of the broken trunk decayed below the sur-
face of the water, and the wood was sufficiently removed to
admit the deposit. The mud first admitted would be of the
same quality as that suspended in the water at the time ; if
no change took place before the cylinder was full, the included
column would be of one kind ; but if, during the process, the
sediment, from being argillaceous became arenaceous, the
lower part of the trunk would be shale and the upper sand-
stone. As many alternations would appear as in the equiva-
lent deposits above, but at a lower level ; and the line of sepa-

the Bolton Bailwat/, at Dixon Fold, neur Manchester, 161

ration between them would be more or less clearly defined as
the change was gradual or sudden. It is obvious that if the
tree had been originally hollow and of uniform diameter, the
sediment introduced would correspond, both in quality and
thickness, with that on the same level around it. If, on the
contrary, it had been solid, no sediment, while it continued
so, could be admitted ; but if, in process of time, it became
hollow by decay, it would then be in a condition to receive
wliatever sediment the water might at the time be depositing,
it being borne in mind that it was submerged, standing erect,
or nearly so, with its lower portion buried up by the deposits
that had been accumulating round it while solid. In the
latter ca.se, the strata on the same level, within and around
the trunk, would not correspond, but the introduced matter
would resemble the beds of which it was the equivalent.

I will now briefly describe the actual conditions of the tree
No. 1, and of the surrounding strata, and then see how far
they can be reconciled with the above theory. This trunk is
a compact fine-grained sandstone, with an intermediate hori-
zontal band of shale nine or ten inches thick, the bottom of
which is two feet above the present base, and which separates
the sandstone into two distinct beds. This band is distinguish-
able from pure argillaceous shale by a mixture of sand ; and
where weathered, is seen to consist of a number of very thin
plates of soft bluish sandstone with intermediate laminae of
shale. It is separated from the contiguous sandstone, both
above and below it, by an abrupt and definite line, indicative
of sudden changes in the nature of the deposit, which changes
are the more remarkable, because, in the coal-measures, the
transition from one deposit to another is generally gradual
and indefinite. The matrix that envelopes the lower half of
the tree and lies upon the nine-inch seam of coal, is a grey
argillaceous shale, that imperceptibly changes upwards into a
sandstone not distinguishable fro;n that which forms the tree
itself. On a cursory view this sandstone appears to be some
yards thick, but on removing its pai'tial covering, a well-defined
bed of laminated shale may be seen inserted. Above the
sandstone other deposits succeed which it is not necessary
here to notice. On comparing the deposits within the trea

VOL, XXXI. NO. LXI. — JULY 1841. L

162 Mr Bowman on the Fossil Trees found in the Line of

with those above it, just described, a remarkable coincidence
will be perceived ; the band of shale is in both overlaid and
underlaid by the same sandstone, composed in both of the same
peculiar character, and separated from the sarfflstone by an
equally abrupt and definite boundary. In the upper strata,
the band is, however, fifteen inches thick, while that in the
tree is only ten inches ; a difference to be explained in the
sequel.

This coincidence in the order and quality of the deposits
within and around the tree, naturally leads us to inquire if
they will not afford some clue to the actual circumstances
under which it was interred. Had the tree been originally
hollow or even cellular, the same blue or grey shale which is
deposited around it, would have forced itself into the interior ;
unless, indeed, when entire, there had been no aperture, or
if its top had been above the surface of the water. In either
case, the great lateral pressure of the surrounding water and
sediment would have caused its sides to collapse. Most fossil
trees found erect have retained their circular form, and are
usually filled with a material which differs from the surround-
ing matrix, and corresponds with an upper bed. This is the
case with the specimen under examination, and the circum-
stance goes far to prove that it was originally solid ; while, on
the other hand, the inorganic matter which now represents it
affords indisputable evidence that it was, at some period^ a
hollow cylinder, which admitted soft sediment through a wide
aperture, because these fossil trunks often contain fern leaves
and large portions of calamites, &c. with their beautiful mark-
ings uninjured. The question therefore arises, how these con-
tradictory-appearances can be reconciled, and I think a satis-
factory solution maybe found in the process already described,
by which the solid wood in tropical climates is removed while
the bark remains sound, and which need not be repeated. It
is only necessary to notice one or two apparent discrepancies.
The sandstone which forms the lower part of the tree is not
so thick as the bed above, which I consider as the same de-
posit. Had the hollow tree been a cylinder of uniform dia-
meter, the thickness of the deposits within and above it would
have been the same. But being somewhat conical^ the base

the Bolton Bailway^ at Dixon Fold, near Manchester. 163

being at least twice as broad as the aperture, the introduced
matter having a wider area to cover, would necessarily be
thinner and more diffused than its equivalent above. This
will also expUin the difference in the thickness of the shale-
band in and above the tree, which has been already alluded
to ; but here there is an additional cause. In the tree it is
nine or ten inches measured perpendicular to the plane of its
surface ; but above, where it is fifteen inches, the measure-
ment is taken on the slope of the excavation, which inclines
about 36° towards the railway, and as the strata dip about
17° in a contrary direction, it follows that in the section the
band will appear to be nearly one-third- thicker than that in
tlie tree. Again, no sediment from the water that was leloiv
the top of the tree could be admitted into it, which would
tend still farther to diminish the thickness of the lower band.
It is also necessary to bear in mind that when this shale-band
was formed, the top of the cylinder must have extended up-
wards of seven or eight feet higher than it does at present. But,
on this assumption, another apparent discrepancy will arise, on
comparing the relative thickness of the sandstone above the
shale-band, within and above the tree. Its present thickness
in the trunk is five feet six inches, and if to this we add about
seven feet six inches to its probable top at the time the pro-
cess was going on, it will exceed that of its supposed equiva-
lent above. But I think this only proves that when the sur-
rounding sediment had risen as high as the top of the cylinder,
a good deal of what afterwards settled round it would find its
way into the aperture in addition to that derived from the
water immediately/ above it ; the specific gravity of the sandy
deposit would cause it to slip down and form a quaquaversal
slope or funnel round the orifice, which, as the sediment ac-
cumulated, would collect it from a continually widening area,
and rapidly fill up the cavity.* Taking this and several minor
considerations into account, it seems probable that the tree

* No indication of sudi an arrangement can be seen in the present in-
stance, because the top of the trunk and its suiTOunding matrix, for six feet
in every direction, have been removed in excavating for the railway ; but I
mention it that observation may bo directed to this point on any future die*
covery of fossil trees.

1(34 On the. Fossil Trees found at Dixon Fold.

became hollow about the period when the change in the de-
posit from the lower shale to the sandstone about it took
place.

I have now shewn that the trunk of this fossil is a cast in
sandstone of the original tree, and that it is composed of the
same strata, placed in the same order of succession, and with
the same transitions, now abrupt and now gradual, as are found
in the rock above it : I have accounted for this general cor-
respondence, for several slight inequalities of thickness, and
for the difference found in the material within the base of the
tree, and in the imbedding matrix. 1 have offered strong evi-
dence from the laws of vegetable physiology, that it was a
dicotyledonous hard-wooded timber tree, and the testimony of
three scientific travellers, two being distinguished botanists,
that such trees in our own day, rapidly become hollow by the
decay of their wood in hot and humid climates, while the bark
remains sound ; and I have given an example from the coal-
strata of a fossil stem in which a portion of the original woody
structure was preserved among the inorganic matter that filled
its interior. I am therefore of opinion, after a careful con-
sideration of all the evidence, that the tree in question, in
common with numerous others found in similar situations, was
a hard-wooded timber tree ; that it grew on the spot where it
still stands ; and after the subsidence of the land, remained in
an erect position with its top above the water ; that it was
converted into a hollow cylinder by the decay of its wood from
natural causes still in operation, and, when altogether sub-
merged, became a mould for the reception of sediment from
the turbid waters, and was gradually covered up by subsequent
deposits, preserving the exact form and character of its ori-
ginal woody surface, as the carbonized exterior has that of its
bark ; and that when at length it is now disinterred, after a
lapse of time so vast that man will probably never be able to
estimate or to comprehend it, it presents to us an exact cast
or model of the trunk of a growing forest tree of the carboni-
ferous era.

In addition to the interesting data already given, the fossil
trees at Dixon Fold seem to me to afford some evidence as to
the length of time that has been occupied in the growth of a

Dr Bidder's Bemarks on the Human Hair. 165

quantity of vegetable matter sufficient to produce a given
thickness of coal, and also of the amount of shrinkage the ve-
getable matter has undergone by conversion into solid coal.
TMs evidence is principally derived from the existing laws of
vegetable physiology applied to the remote epoch of the coal-
formation under modifications necessary from difference of
climate and other circumstances. But as the details, however
interesting in the present state of our knowledge, or rather
ignorance on these points, are not necessarily connected with
the subject of fossil trees, and cannot easily be explained with-
out a diagram, it is perhaps better not to introduce them into
the present communication.
Manchester, Jmie 1841.

Remarks on the Origin, Structure^ and Life of the Human Hair,
By Dr Bidder of Dorpat.

By means of Schwann''s admirable investigation of the de-
velopment of the textures, the only sure path has been opened
up by which the explanation of many obscurities in the mi-
croscopic relations of the textures, and the final solution of
many disputed problems connected with these have either been
already actually obtained, or may be expected. To the latter
belong the discussions, continued up to the present day, on
the structure of the human hair. For, the hollowness or the
solidity of hair, the division into two different substances, or a
perfectly uniform constitution, the fibrous structure imagined
by Leeuwenhoek, or some other cause of the longitudinal divi-
sion sometimes seen in hair ; these were questions, the perfcc t
and sure decision of which could only be expected from the
history of the development of these parts, and from the deter-
mination of their relation to the primary cells. Unfortunatel}',
Schwann, although he directed his attention to most of the
modifications of the horny texture in this point of view, did
not investigate the hair. Perhaps, therefore, the communica-
tion of some observations on this subject may not be without
interest.

The investigation of the mode of formation of the parts be-
longing to the horny texture is rendered very easy by the cir-

166 Dr Bidder's liemarks on the Origin^

eumstance that it is not necessary to go back to the foetus period
of the whole organism ; but that, owing to its constant renewal
in fully grown individuals, we can easily follow up the process.
The following observations were partly made on hairs which
were followed up with the knife through the capsule to the
root, but more frequently on hairs newly sprung, as in these
the capsule {llaarhalg) and pulp (Ilaarkeim) generally follow
without being injured. The pulp, which springs from the
bottom of the capsule, or rather from below it, exhibits at its
upper extremity, that which is connected with the surrounding
soft parts, a deep dark colour, which is palpable to the naked
eye, and which distinguishes it in a remarkable manner from
the capsule. This end, when brought without further prepa-
ration under the microscope, appears throughout as a granu-
lar, muddy yellow, and partially very dark coloured, mass.* By
pressure or careful division, accompanied by treatment with
acetic acid, the grains become so much separated from one
another as to be easily recognised as distinct cells provided
with a nucleus. The size of the cells amounts, in their largest
diameter, to 0.00438'" Par. on an average ; the other diame-
ters vary much, inasmuch as the cells are sometimes pretty
regularly round, sometimes oval, sometimes, and that probably
on account of their close proximity, irregularly flattened, and
sometimes thicker at one end than the other. The granu-
lar contents of the cells are more or less dark, but I have
not been able to distinguish the individual granules con-
tained in them, and I have not accomplished the separation
of these cells. The cellular nucleus is frequently hidden
from the eye by these contents ; it is hardly 0.002'" in size ;
we cannot inquire as to yet smaller bodies composing the
nucleus where the dimensions are thus minute. The cel-
lular membrane, even in the cells lying in the lowest part
of the capsule, are not acted on by acetic acid. These cells
lie through one another in quite an irregular manner, but ap-
pear to be united by a pretty tenacious cytohlastema^^' for it is

♦ This has been already stated bj Gurlt in MUller's Archiv, 1836, p. 271,
and has been figured by him in that volume, Plate XII. Fig. 8.

t By cytohlastema is understood a structureless substance, which is either
contained in pre-existing cells, or exists in the outside of these.

Structure^ and Life of the Human Hair. 167

somewhat difficult to isolate them. On the one hand, they
pass uninterruptedly into the cells of the epithelium, which
clothes the inner surface of the capsule with a thick layer, and
agree with them tolerably well in size, but are distinguished
by their dark colour ; for the cells of the epithelium are almost
quite light and clear. On the other hand, they are continued
into the cells of that portion of the pulp which lies free in the
capsule ; but here also they have undergone various changes.
They are distinctly arranged in rows, and are so much dimi-
nished in breadth, while the length remains nearly the same,
or but little increased, that the length exceeds the breadth
three or four times, so that the whole pulp at this place is con-
siderably diminished in thickness. There is but rarely an im-
perfect trace of a nucleus, and, in consequence of the contrac-
tion, it appears merely as a fine dark streak between the out-
lines of the cell. Each cell is continued at both ends in the
form of an extremely fine thread, which meets a corresponding
one of a neighbouring cell. These threads are so fine that
under the microscope they present only a simple dark line,
and exhibit no trace of separate outlines, so that we cannot
form a decided opinion as to their further structure, although
it is not improbable that they are hollow but extremely fine
continuations of the cellular membrane. By means of these
the cells are united in a connected series, into a thread, which
is from place to place enlarged (the cellular bodies), and be-
tween is sensibly diminished (the cellular continuations), and
which exhibits the essential characters of the epithelium of
Valentin with its threaded rows. The length of the enlarged
and contracted portions is nearly the same. These fibres lie
parallel to one another, and appear to be united by a light-
coloured and transparent cytohlastema. In an otherwise un-
injured pulp, these threads are sometimes removed from one
another by pressure, in such a manner that some of the cellu-
lar bodies, probably after the tearing away of the uniting
threads, project more or less in the whole circumference of the
pulp. An appearance is thus presented simulai* to that which
Gurlt has referred to the so-termed root-fibres of the hair.* I

• Figured by him in the article alreadjr (juoted, Fig. 9. A.

168 Dr }3idder's Bemarks on the Origin,

believe, however, that Gurlt has only had before him the cells
of the epithelium of the capsule, for the cells of the hair itself
are much darker. This middle portion of the pulp possesses
a certain fragility and brittleness, inasmuch as, by pressm-e, it
is easily separated longitudinally, as well as transversely, into
several pieces, at whose edges the fibrous structure can be very
distinctly discerned. A slight pressure separates also this
middle portion of the pulp from a third portion, which lies
next the actual hair, but is distinguished from it by greater
breadth and softness. The brittleness at this point is also the
cause that in drawing out the hair the whole pulp but rarely
follows it ; whereas this third portion, which belongs more to
the true hair, always accompanies it. This .portion, which
alone should receive the name of bulb {Haarzwiehet), exhi-
bits at its broken end a similar fibrous structure to the mid-
dle portion of the pulp ; only the cellular bodies here are finer
and narrower, so that for the most part the outlines of the
cellular membrane and of the nucleus can no longer be dis-
tinguished, and they appear merely as oval bodies. The fibres
are then uninterruptedly continued into the actual hair, and
run towards the extremity . parallel to one another. If the
observer has once convinced himself of this passage, then in
the wholly developed hair-cylinder, at least at its commence-
ment after moistening with acetic acid, the cellular bodies can
be recognised as dark points,* and even sometimes the con-
tinuations are clearly distinguishable as dark lines.

We may, therefore, conclude, that the hair throughout con-
sists of an aggregation of longitudinal fibres, and results from
thread-like rows of cells, which gradually advance from the
bottom of the pulp to the end of the hair itself, but which in
this course undergo essential changes in their size, form, &c.,
while the cytoblastema^ occurring between them, seems always
to become more dried-in and firmer ; we may also, therefore,
conclude that the developed hair is uniform throughout its
whole mass ; that it presents no difi^erence between its external
and internal portions, and that in it no pith and external coat-
ing can be distinguished. The task, however, still remained

♦ Vidi Gurlt's figure, Plate XII. Fig. 0. C. of the paper previously quotedi

Structure^ and Life of (he Human Hair. 169

of decomposing the fully developed hair into its fibrous ele-
ments. The successful treatment, with concentrated acids, of
the nails by M. J. Weber, and of the epidermis by Henle, sug-
gested itself. This method afforded the desired results. I
found that a maceration for several vs^eeks in muriatic acid
was the most effectual. The hair is in this way rendered so
soft that by slight pulling it is torn asunder ; it can be split
into longitudinal threads even by rough preparation, and, by
pressure in the direction of the breadth, it can be as completely
separated as can be wished for microscopical investigation.
There appear coarser and finer fibres uniting with one another
in a plexus-like manner, and crossing one another in the most
varied directions ; the deviation from the parallel course is
doubtless a consequence of the preparation. In the thinner
fibres some resemblance to elastic fibres is produced by fre-
quent union. But even these fibres are bundles of numerous
fine fibrils. These, the elementary forms of the hair, present
themselves as dark lines, becoming from place to place a little
broader, and even at these broader spots, which are the re-
mains of earlier cellular bodies, possessing a diameter of only
0.00041'", according to an estim^e made of it at these very
spots, which, indeed, are the only portions sufficiently broad to
admit of being calculated. They are, therefore, the finest of
all the elements of the body hitherto ascertained. I must remark
that the observer may easily be exposed to a double deception
in respect to the numerous fibres that occur, which exhibit a
lighter centre, surrounded by dark bounding lines, and which
might be regarded as the elementary constituent parts of hair.
On the one hand, by the position of the microscope being
altered, such a fibre will sometimes have the aspect of a
bundle of the already-mentioned finest fibrils, which are
somewhat united by the yellowish cytohlastema^ which has
been again loosened and swollen by the acid, whence such a
bundle also presents a yellowish colour, with dark streaks
running through it. On the other hand, in such an altered
position of the microscope, the observer can at pleasure allow
the one boundary line to appear or disappear, while the other
remains constant, or, inasmuch as he can allow the light which

170 Dr Bidder's Bemarks on the Origin,

comes from beneath to fall on the object sometimes from the
one side and sometimes from the other, the one outline seems
permanent, but the other sometimes to the left, sometimes to
tlie right, and is therefore merely a shadow. The permanently
remaining line is the elementary hair-fibre. In it the walls
eeem to lie so near, both to the primary cells and to their con-
tinuations, that the cellular aperture disappears from view.
The same is the case with the pigment-cells with which the
hair-cells can be most readily compared ; for the so-called
pigment ramifications proceeding from them are frequently so
fine that they elude all measurement. If the thickness of a
human hair of the head be estimated on an average at one-
tenth of a line, then, to produce its diameter, .there must be
combined about 250 of such elementary hair-fibres, if we do
not reckon the uniting cytoblastema, which, however, exists cer-
tainly, but in small quantity ; in its entire thickness, there-
fore, a human hair must contain a prodigious number of such
vessels. How this can be brought into agreement with the
number of the cells of the pulp is to me still inexplicable. The
breadth of the former is nearly ten times less than that of the
latter, and as the hair-fibres, are produced not by the splitting
but by the aggregation of the cells, the pulp must be ten times
greater than the developed hair, Vv^hereas, in fact, it only ex-
ceeds the hair-cylinder at most three times in thickness. I
was myself doubtful of the accuracy of my observations, and
was therefore induced to repeat them frequently ; but I have
always arrived at the same puzzling result, the explanation of
which I must leave to others. The artificial decomposition of
the perfectly developed hair afforded, besides the confirmation
of the view to which the history of the development in rela-
tion to the texture of the hair necessarily led, also some further
indications as to the seat of the colouring matter in the hair.
The dark colour of the lowest part of the pulp is plainly pro-
duced by the dark contents of its cells, while the cellular pulpy
matter which unites them is light coloured and transparent ;
and we can often merely conclude as to its presence without
being able to demonstrate it. The middle portion of the pulp
exhibits neither the intense coloration of the lowest part of

Structure, and Life of the Human Hair. 171

it, nor is it eA'en so dark as the developed hair ; the cells are,
it is true there, but considerably contracted, therefore smaller,
while they are not pressed so closely together, but are arranged
in rows by the more or less long uniting threads. The ci/to-
blastema here is also light coloured. In the third part of the
pulp, however, where the cells appear much as they do in the
second, a darker colour is at once perceptible, and it depends
upon the coloration of the firmer and more tenacious interme-
diate substance which unites the fibres. This is very easily
ascertained after treatment of the developed hair with muria-
tic acid, when, between the finest fibres, that yellowish or
brownish uniting mass, the cijtohlastema, distinctly makes its
appearance, and is undoubtedly the chief cause of the colour
of the hair. I have unfortunately not yet been able to examine
how hair of other colours, such as light blonde and white, are
circumstanced in this respect ; for hitherto I have only em-
ployed brown and black. When these are treated with muriatic
acid they commimicate a portion of their colouring matter to
the liquid, which thus acquires a dark greenish tint, while the
hair itself becomes paler. This, at least, partial extractability
of the colouring matter, harmonizes extremely well with the
view that its chief seat is in the surrounding cytohlastema, and
is in this way quite explicable. I have not yet made -any ob-
servations as to how the hair-fibres are circumstanced in hairs
which are thinner at their roots than in their subsequent course,
as, for example, in the eyebrows.

According to the investigations of Henle and Schwann on
the changes of the cells going forward in other horny textures,
and according to the result that these conversions must be
derived from a self-acting power in the cells, the same must
at once be supposed regarding the hair, and the opinion must
be rejected that all changes of the hair have reference to the
matrix alone. The idea of the dead or lifeless structure within
the boundaries of the organism, must now be given up. The
observations communicated on the origin of the hair afford the
confirmation of the supposition made above. It cannot, how-
ever, be without interest to obtain from pathology new proofs
of the life existing in the hair itself. A residence of some

172 Dr Bidder^'s Bcmarks on the Origin^

weeks during last summer at a place in which the Flica Polo-
nica is among the most frequent diseases, afforded me an
opportunity of doing so. It is true that it was not in its
worst forms, but that was not necessary for an anatomical-
physiological investigation. Unfortunately I could not make
microscopical observations at the time, and afterwards I had
no opportunity. The portion of my remarks which relate
to the present subject is the following : In all the cases in-
vestigated by me, the matted hair-tufts did not reach to the
skin of the head, but the hairs which afterwards formed such
a tuft, to from one-half to one inch from the head, were quite
in their normal state. We might, to be sure, suppose that
sound hair had grown afterwards, and that the matting had
originally reached deeper, but this I had no opportunity of
ascertaining, as I only saw the disease in its later stages. I
have, indeed, never seen any cases of Plica Polonica that had
quite newly occurred ; but as the appearance mentioned pre-
sented itself in at least twenty otherwise very different indi-
viduals in much the same way, such may, without hesitation,
be regarded as the regular and original mode of occurrence.
As, further, the skin of the head, at the places corresponding
to the spots affected by Plica Polonica, was in its normal state,
and exhibited neither redness, swelling, nor increased sensi-
bility, we cannot suppose that there is an absolute dependence
of the phenomena of disease occurring in the hair on the con-
dition of the skin of the head, which contains its so-termed
matrix. We must rather believe that in the above-mentioned
cases the hair-cylinders, in consequence of a diseased action
beginning at a fixed place in their cellular fibres, become
united in larger and smaller bundles, thus individually in-
creasing considerably in thickness, and also become so en-
tangled that they divide into fine fibrils. The frequent oc-
currence of such fine hairs, as also that of numerous much
coarser hairs in Plica Polonica, can scarcely be otherwise ac-
counted for. A process of division or separation in the conti-
nuity of the hair, which sometimes occurs, is still more im-
portant and conclusive as to the life of the cylinder. I met
with two individuals in whom, a short time before, the matted

Structure, and Life of the Human Hair. 173

hair-tufts had of themselves fallen off, without leaving hare
places on the skin of the head ; nay, this falling off is consi-
dered b}' the people of the district as a fortunate, though a
rare symptom. When my attention had once been directed to
this, it was not difficult to observe in a couple of patients this
process of separation in its commencement and progress.
While, for the most part, no particularly distinct and fixed boun-
dary could be ascertained between the sound and the matted
hair, and both gradually passed into one another, there pre-
sented itself on two occasions, in place of this passage, a round
deep groove running round the tuft of hair, as if it had been
produced by a thread laced in all round. It formed a very dis-
tinct boundary between the sound and diseased portion of the
hair, which appeared at this place as if cracked. The lacing-
in and contraction of the hair-tuft at this place proceeded so
far in many of the bunches, that a portion of the hair-cylinder
was separated, and the whole tuft was hanging to only a resi-
due of the hair which was originally united with it ; by a con-
tinuation of the process, the whole tuft must eventually fall
off. This circumstance has a remarkable resemblance to the
phenomena which accompany the separation of diseased por-
tions in the soft parts, for example, in the case of scalds.
When, in such cases, boundaries are established, a red ring is
formed between the sound and the diseased parts ; a lacing-in
is produced, by the deeper penetration of which the diseased
portion is at last separated and removed. The whole pheno-
mena can only be derived from an action inherent in the hair
itself. I sincerely trust that this subject, which still presents
so many blanks to fill up, may very soon attract the attention
of others whose external circumstances are favourable to such
an investigation. I cannot myself soon hope to enjoy an op-
portunity of following up my observations.*

* From Miiller^s Archiv/Ur Amtomie, &c. 184a

\

174 Arrangement, of Minerals.

Tabular View of an Arrangement of Misbrals founded upon'
Fhy steal and Chemical Characters, *

CLASS I.
Order I. Gas. Ord. II. Water. Ord. III. Acid. Ord. IV. Salt.

CLASS 11.

A. Haloidal Minerals.

Tasteless compounds of Earths and Acids, and of Metals and

Acids.

Subclass I. HALLITE. — Saline Minerals.
Tasteless compounds of Earths and Acids.

Order I. Kuphallite — Light Saline Minerals.
Example^ Gypsum.

Order II. Barallite — Heavy Saline Miiierals.
Ex. Heavy-Spar,

Subclass II. HALOCHALCITE— aS'^/Zw^ Ores.

Tasteless compounds of Metals and Acids.

Order I. Baralochalcite. — Heavy Saline Ores.
Ex. Sparry-Iron.

Order II. KuphalochalCite — Light Sali7ie Ores.
Ex. Malachite.

Order III. Micalochalcite. — Micaceous Saline Ores.
Ex. Uran-Mica.

Order IV. Keralochalcite Comeoys Saline Ores.

Ex. Horn-Ore.

B. Earthy Minerals.

Order L Mica. Order II. Graphite. f Order III. Stea-
tite. Order IV. Spar. Order V. Gem.

C. Metalliferous Minerals.

Order I. Ore, or Oxide. Order II. Metal, or Native
Metal. Order III. Pyrites. Order IV. Glance.
Order V. Blende. Order VI. Sulphur.

* In this Tabular View, used in my lectures on Natural History, the
whole of the genera and species of the system are not enumerated, and the
characters of the orders and genera are not so fully detailed as in the class-
room.— Edit.

t The Order Graphite is placed provisionally among the Earthy Minerals.

Arrangement of Minerals, 175

CLASS III.
Inflammable Minerals.
Order I. Resin. Order II. Coal.

CLASS I. .
Characters of the Class. — If solid, is sapid. Specific gra-
vity less than 3.8.*

Order I. GAS.
Elastic. Not acid. Sp. gr. — 0.0001 — 0.0014.

Genus I. Hydrogen Gas.
Evident smell. Sp. gr. = 0.0001 — 0.0014.
1. Pure Hydrogen Gas. 2. Carbiiretted Hydrogen Gas. 3. Sulphu-
retted Hydrogen Gas. 4. Phosphuretted Hydrogen Gas.

Genus II. Azotic Gas.

Without snjell or taste. Sp. gr. = 0.9757.

1. Common Azotic Gas.

Genus III. Atmospheric Air.
Without smell or taste. Sp. gr. z= 0-001 — 0001 5.

1. Pure Atmospheric Air.

Order II. WATER.
Liquid. Tasteless, or with sensible smell and taste. Sp.
gr.:^ 1.0 — 1.0269.

Genus I. Atmospheric Water.
W^ithout smell or taste. Sp. gr. = 1.0.
1. Pure Atmospheric Water.

Genus II. Sea-Water.
Sensible smell and taste. Sp. gr. = 1.0269.
1 . Common Sea- Water.

Order III. ACID.
Elastic, liquid, and solid. Hardness= 0.0 — 1.5. Sp. gr. =
0.0018—3.7. Taste acid, sweetish.

* This class might be divided into subclasses, the first subclass to include
the Gases, the second the Waters, the third the Acids, and the fourth the
Salts ; but the number of substances in the class is so inconsiderable, as to
render the introduction of such subdiyisions unnecessary.

176 Arrangement of Minerals,

Genus I. Carbonic Acid.
Taste slightly acid. Sp. gr. = 0.0018.
1. Aeriform Carbonic Acid.

Genus II. Muriatic Acid or Hydrochloric Acid.
Smell of safFron, and strong acid taste. Sp. gr. = 0.0023.
1. Aeriform Muriatic Acid or Hydrochloric Acid.

Genus III. Sulphuric Acid.
If gaseous, the smell is sulphureous. If liquid, the taste is strongly
acid. Sp. gr. = 0.0025 — 1.9.

I. Aeriform Sulphuric Acid, or Sulphurous Acid Gas. 2. Liquid Sul-
phuric Acid.

Genus IV. Boracic Acid.
Solid. Sp. gr. = 1.4—1.5.
1, Prismatic Boracic Acid.

Genus V. Arsenious Acid.
Solid. Sp. gr. greater than 3.0.
1. Octahedral Arsenious Acid.

Order IV. SALT.
Solid. Hardnessrr 1.0 — 3.5. Sp. gr. == 1.4 — 3.2. Taste
not acid. Soluble in water.

-|- Alkaline Salts.
* Salts of Soda.
Genus I. Natron, or Carbonate of Soda.
Prismatic and hemiprismatic. Taste pungent and alkaline. Hard
ness = 1.0 — 1.5. Sp. gr. = 1.4 — 1.6.

1. Hemiprismatic Natron. 2. Prismatic Natron.

Genus II. Trona, or Sesqui-carbonate of Soda.
Hemiprismatic. Taste alkaline. Hardness = 2.5 — 3.0. Sp.
gr. =2.1— 2.2.

1. Prismatoidal Trona.

Genus III. Glauber Salt or Sulphate of Soda.
Prismatic. Taste first cooling, and then feebly saline and bitter.
Hardness = 1.5 — 2.0. Sp. gr. = 1.4 — 1.5.
1 . Prismatic Glauber Salt.

Genus IV. Borax, or Borate of Soda.
Hemiprismatic. Taste sweetish alkaline, but feeble. Hardness
= 2.0 --2.5. Sp.gr. = 1.7 — 1.8.
1. Prtsmatic Borax..

Arrangement of Minerals, 177

Genus V. Rock-Salt.
Tessular. Cleavage hexahedral. Taste saline. Hardness = 2.0
Sp. gr. = 2.2 — 2.3.

1. Plexahedral Rock-Salt.

** Salts of Potash.
Genus VI. Nitre, or Nitrate of Potash.
Prismatic. Taste cooling and saline. Hardness = 2.0. Sp. gr.
1.9 — 2.0.

1. Prismatic Nitre.

Genus VH. Sulphate op Potash.
Cleavage imperfect. Taste disagreeably bitter, but feeble. Hard-
ness = 2.5 — 3.0. Sp. gr. = 1.73.
1 . Prismatic Sulphate of Potash.

*■"* Salts of Ammonia,
Genus VIII. Sal-Ammoniac.
Tessular. Prismatic. Taste pungent and urinous. Hardness
=^ 1.5 — 2.5. Sp. gr. = 1.5 — 1.73.

1 . Octahedral Sal-Ammoniac, or Muriate of Ammonia. 2. Prismatic
Sal- Ammoniac, or Sulphate of Ammonia.

ft Earthi/ Salts,
* Salts of Magnesia,

Genus IX. Epsom Salt or Sulphate of Magnesia.
Prismatic. Cleavage perfect. Taste bitter and saline. Hardness
= 2.0 — 2.5. Sp. gr. = 1.7 — 1.8.
1. Prismatic Epsom Salt.

** Salts of Alumina,
Geiius X. Alum.
Tessular. Taste sweetish, astringent. Hardness =2.0 — 2.5.
Sp.gr. = 1.7 — 1.8.
1. Octahedral Alum.

-H Compound Salts.

Genus XI. Glauberite.
Prismatic. Hemiprismatic. Taste saline and astringent or bitter,
but feeble Hardness = 2.5 — 3.5. Sp. gr. = 2.75 — 2.85.

1. Hemiprismatic Glauberite. 2. Prismatic Glauberite or Polyhallite.
*•** Metalliferous Salts.
Genus XII. Vitriol.

Prismatic. Hemiprismatic. Tetartoprismatic. Streak white.
Taste astringent. Hardness = 2.0 — 2.5. Sp. gr. = 1 .8 — 2.3.
vol. XXXI. no. LXI, JULY 1841. M

tT8 Arrmigeinent of Minerals,

1. Green Vitriol or Sulphate of Iron (Ilemiprismatic Vitriol).

2. BliLc Vitriol or Sulphate of Copper (Tetartoprismatic Vitriol).

3. White Vitriol or Sulphate of ^inc (^Prismatic Vitriol).

Genus XIII. Botryogene or Red Sulphate of Iron.
Hemiprismatic. Streak ochre-yellow. Taste feebly astringent.
Hardness = 2.0 — 2.5. Sp. gr. = 2.04.
1. Hemiprismatic Botryogene.

Genus XIV. Johannite or Uranium Vitriol.
Hemiprismatic. Taste bitter and astringent. Hardness = 2.0
— 2.5. Sp.gr. 3.19.

1. Hemiprismatic Johannite.

CLASS II.

Characters of (he Class. — Specific Gravity more than 1.8.
Tasteless.

A- Haloidal IXEinerals.

Tasteless compounds of Earths and Acids, and of Metals
and Acids.

Subclass I. HALLITE. — Saline Minerals.
Tasteless compounds of Earths and Acids.

Order I. KUPHALLITE.— i^>A^ ScUin£ JMi^rals.

Not metallic. Cleavage never distinctly axotomous ; in
thin plates not elastic. Streak white, red, blue. Hardness
1.5 _ 5.0. Sp. gr. = 1.9 — 3.2.

t •

Genus I. Gypsum.
Prismatic. Hemiprismatic. Cleavage very distinctly monotomous ;
flexible in thin plates. Hardness = 1 .5 — 2.0. Sp. gr. = 2.2 — 2.4.
1. Prismatoidal or common Gypsum.

Genus II. Anhydrite.
Prismatic. Cleavage in three rectangular directions. Hardness
=3.0 — 3.5. Sp. gr. = 2.8 — 2.9.
1. Prismatic Anhydrite.

Genus III. Gay-Lussite.
Hemiprismatic. Hardness = 2.5 Sp. gr. = 1.9. -^ 1.95.
1. Hemiprismatic Oay-Liissite.

Arrangement of Minerals, 17©

Genus IV. Calc-Spar.
Rhomboliedral. Prismatic. IIarclness=3.0 — 4.5. Sp. gr.=2.5 — 3.2.
* Common Calc-Spars, and Limestones.
1. Prismatic Calc-Spar or Aragonite. 2. Rliombohedral Calc-Spar or
Common Calc-Spar.

** Magnesian Calc-Spars^ and Limestones.
.3. Dolomite Calc-Spar. 4. Magnesite Calc-Spar, 6. Ankerite Calc-
Spar.

Genus V. Fluor.
Tessular. Hardness = 4. Sp. gr. = 3.144.
1. Octahedral or common Fluor Spar.

Genus VI. Apatite.
Rhomboliedral. Hardness = 5.0. Sp. gr. = 3.225.
1. Rhombohedral Apatite or common Phosphate of Lime.

ft
Genus VII. Alumstone.

Rhombohedral. Cleavage axotomous. Hardness = 3.5 — 4.0.
Sp. gr. =2.5—2.8.

1. Rhombohedral Alumstone. (Alumine souS'Sulphatie Alcaline,
Haliy.)

+ + t
Genus VIII. Wavellite.
Prismatic. Cleavage perfect in oblique directions. Hardness
= 3.5 — 4.0. Sp. gr. = 2.3 — 2.4.

1. Prismatic Wavellite or Phosphate of Alumina.

tttt
Genus IX. Cryolite.
Prismatic. Cleavage in three rectangular directions. Hardness
= 2.5 — 3.0. Sp. gr. =: 2.9 — 3.0.

1. Prismatic Cryolite (Alumne Fluat^e Alcaline. HaUy).

Order II. BARALLITE.— 7/e«r^ Saline Minerals.
Not metallic. Streak white. Hardness = 3.0 -—4.0. Sp.
gr. = 3.6 — 4.7.

Genus I. Heavy-Spar.
Prismatic. Hemiprismatic. Hardness = 3.0 — 4.0. Sp. gr. = 3.6
— 4.7.

* Barytic Spars.
1, Baryto-Calcitc or Hemiprismatic Heavy-Spar. 2. Witherite, or
Diprismatic Heavy-Spar {Carbonate of Barytes). 3. Common
Heavy-Spar, or Prismatic Heavy-Spar {Sulphate of Barytes).

180 Arrangement of Minerals.

** Stro7ititic Spars.
4. Strontinnite or Peritomous Heavy-Spar ( Carbonate ofStrontites).
6. Celestine or Prismatoidal Heavy-Spar {Sulphateof Strontites).

Subclass II. UALOCRALClTE.-^Saluie Ores.
Tasteless compounds of Metals and Acids.

Order I. BARALOCHALCITE.— JT^^t^y Saline Ores.
Not metallic. No metallic pearly lustre. Streak white,
pale bro^vn, orange-yellow. Hardness = 2.0 — 5.5. Sp. gr.
= 3.3 — 8.1.

Genus I. Sparry-Iron.
Rhombobedral. Cleavage rhombohedral. Streak white. Hard-
ness = 3.5 — 4.5. Sp. gr. = 3.829.

1. Rhombohedral Sparrj^-Iron, or Carbonate of Irgn.

Genus II. Red Manganese.
Rhombohedral. Cleavage rhombohedral. Colour red. Hard-
ness =3. 5 — 4.5. Sp. gr. = 3.5.

1. Rliombohedral Red Manganese (^Manganese oxide carbonate, H.).
2. Isometric Red Manganese.

Genus III. Retine-Spar.
Pyramidal. Prismatic. Streak brown... grey. Hardness = 4.5
— 5.5. Sp.gr. = 3.6— 4.6.

1. Pyramidal Retine-Spar {Phosphate of Ytti'ia). 2. Prismatic Retina-
Spar {Pho spha te of Manganese) .

Genus IV. Tungsten.
Pyramidal. Hardness = 4.0 — 4.5. Sp. gr. = 6.0 — - 6. 1 .
1. Pyramidal Tungsten, or Tungstate of Lime.
Genus V. Calamine.
Prismatic. Rhombohedral. Streak white. Hardness = 5.0 — 5.5.
Sp. gr. = 3.3. — 4.5.

1. Prismatic Calamine, or Electric Calamine {Hydrous silicate of
Zinc). 2. Rhombohedral Calamine {Carbonate of Zinc). 3.
Williamsite {Anhydrous silicate of Zinc).
Genus VI. Lead-Spar.
Rhombohedral. Pyramidal. Prismatic, and Hemiprismatic. Hard-
ness = 2.0 — 4.0. Sp. gr. = 6.0 — 8.1.

1. Peritomous Lead-Spar {MuriateofLeadofMendip). 2. Diprisma-
tic Lead-Spar {Carbonate of Lead. White Lead-Spar.) 8. Rhom-
bohedral Lead- Spar {Phosphate of Lead. Griin und Braun
Bleierz of Wern.) 4. Macrotypous Lead-Spar {Griin Bleierz, W.
Plomb phosphaK: Arsenifere, H.) 6. Hemiprismatic Lead-Spar

Arrangement of Mifierale. ISl

{Chromateof Lead. Red Lead- Spar). 6. Pyramidal Lead-Spar
{Molybdatc of Lead. Yellow Lead-Spar). 7. Pystomous Lead-
Spar (rMM^r^/a^c o/iearf. Scheelbleupath Mr.). 8. Orthotomous
Leiid-Simr {Corneous Lead- Spar. Hornblei). 9. Prismatic Lead-
Spur {Sulphate of Lead. Vitriol-BleierXyW. Plomh Sulphate, H.)
10. Axotomous Lead-Spar {Sulphato-Tri- Carbonate of Lead,
Brooke). 11. Paratomous Lead Spar {Cupreous Sulphato-Car-
bonate of Lead, Brooke). 12. Prismatoidal Lead-Spar {Sulphato-
Carbonate of Lead, Brooke).

Genus VIL White Antimony, or Antimony-Spar.
Prismatic. Hardness = 2.5 — 3.0. Sp. gr. = 5.5 — 5.6.
1. Prismatic White Antimony.

Order IL KUPHALOCHALCITE.— Z^i^A/ Saiirte Ores.
Not metallic. Colour blue, green, brown, yellow. Streak
blue, green, brown. Hardness = 2.0 — 5.0. Sp. gr. 2.5
— 4.2.

Genus L Liriconite.
Tessular. Prismatic. Cleavage not monotomous. Hardness = 2.0^
^2.5. Sp. gr. = 2.8 — 3.0.

1. Prismatic Liriconite {Arseniate of Copper). 2. Hexaliedral Liri-
conite {Arseniate of Iron).

Genus IL Olivenite.
Prismatic. Cleavage very imperfect. Colour neither blue, nor
lively green. Streak olive-green... brown. Hardness = 3.0 — 4.0.
Sp. gr. = 3.6 — 4.2.

1. Prismatic Olivenite {Acicular Arseniate of Copper). 2. Diprisma-'
tic Olivenite or Libethenite {Phosphate of Copper).

Genus HL Blue Malachite.
Hemiprismatic. Colour and streak blue. Hardness = 3.5 — 4.0.
Sp.gr. =3.7 — 3.9.

1. Prismatic Blue Malachite {Blue Carbonate of Copper),

Genus IV. Emerald Malachite.
Rhombohedral. Prismatic. Colour lively emerald green. Hard-
ness = 3.5 — 5.0. Sp. gr. = 3.2 — 3.5.

1. Rhombohedral Emerald Malachite or Dioptase. 2. Prismatic
Emerald Malachite or Euchroite.

Genus V. Green Malachite.
Hemiprismatic. Cleavage perfect. Colour and streak lively green*
Hardness = 3.5 — 4.0. Sp. gr. = 3.6 — 4.05.

1. Hemiprismatic Green Malachite, or common Green Malacliitfi
{Grren Carbonate q/'Copi>€r).

182 Arrangement of Minerals*

Genus VI. Dystome-Malachite.*
Prismatic. Hemiprismatic. Cleavage imperfect. Colour emerald
— blackish-green. Streak lively green. Hardness = 3.5 — 5.0. Sp.
gr.= 3.7 — 4.2.

\ . Prismatic Dystome-Malachite^ or Brochantite. 2. Hemiprismatic
Dystome-Malachite {Phosphor-KupfcrerZj Werner. Hydrous
Phosphate of Copper), 3. Monotomous Dystome-Malachite, or
Erinite {^Hydrous Sub-bisesquiarseniate of Copper, Thomson).

Genus . CoPPER-GREEN.f

Amorphous. Streak white. Hardness = 2.0 — 3.0. Sp. gr. = 1.8
— 2.2.

I. Common Copper-Green (Siliceous Malachite,, Kiesellcupfer. Cuivre
hydraU Silicieux.)

Order HI. MICALOCHALCITE.— -Mc«ceoi^^ Saline Ores,
Rhombohedral, Prismatic, Pyramidal. Cleavage monoto-
mous, very distinct. Hardness = 1.0 — 2.5. Sp. gr. =2.5

^3.2.

Genus I. Copper-Mica.
Rhombohedral, prismatic. Streak green. Hardness =1.0 — 2.0.
Sp. gr. = 2.5 — 3.2.

1. Rhombohedral Copper-Mica (Arseniate of Copper). 2. Prismatic
Copper-Mica (Kupferschaum).

Genus II. Uran-Mica.
Pyramidal. Streak lively green... yellow. Cleavage very distinct-
ly axotomous. Hardness = 2.0 — 2.5. Sp. gr. = 3.0 — 3.2.
1. Pyramidal Uran-Mica {Phosphate of Uranium),

Order IV. KERALOCHALCITE.— (7<?m.?ow^ Saline Ores,
Not metallic. Streak white or grey. No single distinct
cleavage. Hardness = 1.0 — 2.0. Sp. gr. = 5.5 — 6.5.

Genus I. Horn- Ore.
Tessular, pyramidal. Hardness = 1.0 — 2.0. Sp. gr. = 5.5 — 6.5.
1. Hexahedral Horn Ore, or Muriate of Silver. 2. Pyramidal Horn-
Ore, or Muriate of Mercury.

{To be concluded in next number.)

* Dystom, from Jt/y, diffiAndty, and r«/Av&/, to cleave, from the difficulty of
obtaining the cleavage.

t Should Copper-Green prove io be a genus of a sub-order of the order
Kuphalochalcite, the chai'acter of the order as here given will require al-
teration.

( 1S3 )

SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE.

METEOROLOOy.

1. On the Spontaneous Evolution of Sulphuretted Hydrogen in the
Waters of the Western Coasts of Africa and elsewhere. — In the course
of a lecture on this subject, delivered at the Royal Institution, by Pro-
fessor Daniell, he observed, that it was curious that the impregnation
of the waters of Western Africa with this deleterious gas had sO long
escaped attention. In water seaward forty miles its presence can be
detected ; and it exists in considerable quantity in the Volta, in Lopez
Bay, in the Grand Bonny, &c. ; it spreads over an area of 40,000
square miles, from about 8° north to 8° south latitude. The origin of
this vast accumulation of sulphuretted hydrogen, Mr Daniell attributes,
not to volcanic action, not to the decomposition of pyrites, nor to the
process of the decay of animal matter, but to the action and reaction
of the vegetable matter carried down by the tropical rivers, and the
sulphates always more or less present in sea-water. This, moreover,
he has proved by experiment. Last winter he placed some fallen leaves
in a jar of new river-water ; also a similar proportion in a second jar,
with three ounces of salt, and in a third, with a like quantity of the sul-
phate of soda — all closely stopped, and a card-board, with acetate of lead,
over each. After having been kept three months in a warm closet he ex-
amined them. The first emitted the common smell of decayed leaves; the
second that of a pleasant conserve ; but the third, no words could con-
vey the stinking odour, nauseous beyond all description. This of itself
was sufficient to establish the generation of sulphuretted hydrogen ; but
further, the usual blackening of the lead of the card-board in this jar
only left no doubt on the matter. Wherever, then, sea- water holding
sulphates in solution mixes with fresh water and vegetable matter,
this gas must be produced, and its effects on animal life are well
known. It is a record in Italy, as well as in Essex, that where the
sea has been prevented flooding the marshes, that locality, previously-
very sickly, had become perfectly salubrious. . To sulphuretted hydro-
gen, therefore, Mr Daniell ascribes the dreaded malaria, as also the
deadly stinking miasma of Africa, producing languor, nausea, disgust,
and death. The jungle-fever of India, also, he thinks attributable to
its presence. The soil abounds with sulphates of magnesia and soda ;
must not, therefore, quantities of sulphuretted hydrogen be generated
in the jungle-swamps ? Besides the direful consequences to the health
of man visiting the deadly shores of Africa, this sulphuretted hydrogen

184 Scientific Intelligence.^'^Meteorology.

does him great injury in a commercial point of view. The copper-
sheathing of vessels is rapidly destroyed. Mr Daniell exhibited a sheet
taken from the Bonetta in August 1840, on her return from the
African station. Although new not many months before, it was eaten
into holes, with a deposit on the one side of the protochloride of copper,
and of the black sulphuret of copper on the other. A plate exhibited,
taken from the Royal George, was in a good state in comparison with
it. T!ie latter had been acted on for sixty years by sea-water, but,
be it remembered, by sea- water alone, not impregnated with sulphu-
retted hydrogen. On it there was no trace of a sulphuret. These,
then, were the two principal and important points illustrated by Mr
Daniell ; and the question put by him, and answered in the affirmative,
was. Can science indicate a remedy for these evils ? For the former,
fumigation with chlorine. Chlorine and sulphuretted hydrogen cannot
co-exist. Chemical action instantly takes place; siilphur is thrown
down, hydrochloric acid formed, and malaria and miasma nowhere ;
the destroyer destroyed. For the latter, the destructive agent is not
decomposed, but its action is directed to a less costly material. Copper
is to be protected by zinc, for which sulphuretted hydrogen has the
stronger affinity ; and so long as the latter metal is present, the former
is free from the attack of the gas in solution. This, it will be readily
seen, is Sir H. Davy's principle, which involved the use of zinc or iron ;
but in the case of sulphuretted hydrogen, zinc and not iron must be
employed. Mr Daniell regretted that Davy's zinc-protectors had been
so soon abandoned, and only because the copper, not acted upon by the
muriatic acid, became a nucleus for earthy, vegetable, and animal
matter, and the ship's bottom was in consequence fouled, as it is
termed. The remedy for this, he said, was most simple. Let the
protectors be so arranged that contact may be broken and renewed at
will. The zincs and copper separated for a short time, the earthy de-
posits would soon be removed. In consequence of Mr Daniell's report
to the Admiralty, chlorine has been furnished the Niger Expedition,
and no ship hereafter will proceed to the African station without that
purifier in store, nor without zinc-protectors for her copper. It is to be
hoped that all ship-owners will follow the example of the Admiralty
Board in this respect. — Literary Gazette, No. 1272.

AikUtional Evidence of the active agency of Salt Water ^ when in contact with
decaying Vegetable Mattery in Generating Miasma, in a hot climate, con-
tained in a Letter from Professor Daniell to the Editor of " The Friend (f
Africa:'

My DfiAR Slft,'-*Tho fividcncc of the worsit ea^^es of malaria beiu^ C9it<

Scientific Intelligence. — Mcteoroloyy, 185

nected with the decomposition of the sulphates in sea-water increases
upon me every day, and I have now the pleasure to send you an abstract
of a paper, which you vnW. find at length in the 29th volume of the An-
nales de Chimie, p. 225, by Signer Guetano Giorgini, which oflfers the
strongest possible confirmation of my opinion. I trust that it may tend
to give confidence to the African expedition ; for if wo rightly know the
cause of tlie pestiferous exhalations upon the coast, the prevention of ill
effects is obvious and easy : — Steam through the salt-waters as fast as pos-
sible, and while obliged to be on them make a plentiful use of chlorine
fumigation, which instantly decomposes the sulphuretted hydrogen. — I
am, &c.

J. F. Daniell.
Captain Washington, E.N.

" The observation of Signer Giorgini has been draAvn to the state of the
atmosphere in the neighbourhood of certain marshes on the borders of the
Mediterranean ; and by reference to historical data, and various docu-
ments, he has proved the great importance which attaches to the circum-
stance of their being at times in communication with the sea, so as to
have a mixture formed between their waters and that of the sea. Both
ancient and modem authors have announced the fatal effects produced in
the neighbourhood of marshes by such mixture, and a local belief of the
same is very common and strong.

*' On the south of the Ligurian Apennines is a marshy shore, bounded
on the west for twelve miles by the Mediterranean, on the south by the
river Serchio, and on the north by the river Frigido, a torrent commenc-
ing at the foot of the Apennines in the state of Massa di Carrara, running
three or four miles over the land, and then falling into the sea. The
plain is from two to four miles wide, and is traversed by a few short tor-
rents or streams ; among these are the rivers Camajore and Pietra
Santa, which divide the plain into three separate basins. The rain and
spring waters which flow into the three basins mentioned, are slowly dis-
charged into the sea by natural or artificial canals, penetrating the sand-
bank, which exist on the sea- side.

" The level of these stagnant waters is between that of high and low
water in the neighbouring sea, there being but little difference between
these two points in this part of the Mediterranean. In this state of
things, formerly, when the waters of the sea arose from any circumstance
(unless the waters of the marshes were very high), they used to return up
the ditches, fill the basins, and inundate the country to the foot of the
mountains ; and with a north-west wind the waves used to penetrate with
force to the interior. The mixture of fresh and salt water thus formed,
and which in summer was rarely changed, became corrupt, and spread in-
fection over the neighbourhood of the most destructive kind.

" In this way the effects of the malaria were reproduced annually in ih«

186 Scientific Intelligence. — Meteorology,

neighbouring counh-y with all their peculiar horrors : the population,
though small, presented feeble infants and diseased men, old age being
unknown there. All attempts to avoid the scourge, by living on the hills,
or in the interior, and frequenting the plains when the business of culti-
vation essentially required it, were vain ; they fell victims to the extent
sive influence, and such being the effects upon the inhabitants of the
country, much more rapidly did a stranger suffer from the deleterious at-
mosphere ; one single night in the months of August and September
causing inevitable death to the incautious traveller who should stay so
long in this infested country.

" Such Avas the state of things till 1741. Previous to that time Gemig-
nano Rondelli, Eustachio Manfredi, and Bernardino Zendrini had suc-
cessively insisted upon the necessity of excluding the sea from these
marshes ; and in 1740-41 a sluice with folding-doors, competent to give
emission to the waters of the marsh, but prevent the sea from entering,
was constructed at the mouth of the Burlamacca. The most complete and
unexpected success immediately followed upon, and has continued with,
this work. The year after its completion there were no appearances of
the terrible maladies which previously appeared every year. The inhabi-
tants soon recovered health, and the land being very fertile, the population
rapidly increased, and is increasing at this moment. Viareggio has be-
come a considerable town ; and so completely has all suspicion of its in-
salubrity disappeared, that the first families of the city of Lucca have for
years built there summer seats there. Notwithstanding the success of the
precautions taken at this part of the coast, the neighbouring parts were
long left a prey to the destroying influence of the mixed marsh-waters ;
and the inhabitants around the basins of Motrone and Perotto were not
considered until the year 1804. In the years 1809, 1810, 1811, similar
means were taken with the best efiects to the inhabitants of Montignoso
and the vicinity ; and in 1812 a sluice was constructed on the Cinquale,
which perfected the arrangements in this part, and made a large portion
of the country equally healthy with Viareggio. To complete the arrange-
ment, it was now only required to guard the ditches of Montrone and
Tonfalo with sluices ; the former was finished in 1819, and the latter in
1821. Since that time the diseases of malaria have ceased so entirely at all
points, that no other dangers are now incurred regarding the insalubrity
of the atmosphere than such as may arise from neglect of these sluices,
which the inhabitants of the country should regard as their palladium. —
Friend of Africa, No. 3.

2. Power which Pla7its j^ossess of Drawing off Electricity from ike
Atmosphere. — A letter from Thomas Pine, Esq., was read to the London
Electrical Society, containing many interesting facts on the power
exercised by the points of living vegetables in " drawing off" electri-
city from the atmosphere. That many important functions in vegeta-
tion result from this, the author concluded from the singular circum-

Scientijic Intelligence. — Meteorology. 187

stance of dew being deposited on the apex or points of leaves. Ap-
parently smooth leaves are, when examined by a microscope, found
studded with these natural attractions ; and which is still more illus-
trative of the case in question, plants vegetate with more vigour in an
electrified atmosphere, than when the soil is electrified. This commu-
nication was merely a general sketch of conclusions which the author
promised to illustrate more at large on a future occasion.

3. On Noises proceeding from Aurora Boreulis, and oh the Twink-
ling of the Fixed Stars in Scotland^ hy Professor Necker. — 1, never
could hear any particular noise in Skye, even when the aurora was
most extensive and vivid, and the most perfect calm and profound si-
lence prevailed. In the Shetland Islands, however, I have heard nu-
merous statements to the contrary ; which are the more remarkable as
they were entirely spontaneous, and in no way influenced by any pre-
vious question on my part.

Individuals of various states and conditions, and inhabiting districts
very remote from each other in these islands, have been unanimous in
saying that, when the aurora is intense, it is accompanied with a noise
which they all alike agree in comparing to a winnowing machine when
employed in fanning corn.

One of the persons employed by the Commissioners of the Northern
Lighthouses to make meteorological observations at the lighthouse of
Sumburgh Head (at the southern extremity of Shetland), and who has
consequently acquired a habit of observing correctly, has informed me
of his own accord, and without having the subject forced on him, that
this sound was always heard distinctly, and he even added that he
had heard it while within one of the rooms of the lighthouse, the win-
dow-shutters of which were closed, when he said there must be an au-
rora borealis, which turned out to be the fact.

The aurora has frequently been accompanied with hoar-frosl and in
the greater number of instances it has been followed by hea\y falls
of snow or rain, as well as by violent gusts of wind and tempests. In
this last respect, therefore, my observations rather tend to confirm the
opinion generally admitted in Scotland, that the northern lights are
the precursors of bad weather and strong winds.

I have heard Professor Forbes say, that the fixed stars, even of the
first magnitude, never twinkle near Edinburgh unless it be when an
aurora borealis prevails. My own observations, in general, confirm
this remark. It is true that the fixed stars never twinkle in these la-
titudes, or at least it is only very rarely that I have seen, in stars of
the fii-st magnitude, a slight scintillation.

At Skye, on the contrary, all the fixed stars sparkle and scintillate

1S8 Scientific Intelligence. — Geology,

as brightly as during the beautiful evenings of France or Switzerland,
It is the same in the other Hebrides, in the Orkneys, Shetland, the
whole of the western coast of the north of Scotland, and in the high
regions of the Highlands. Now, it is to be remarked, that in none of
these places are there any large towns, scarcely even burghs or large
villages, and no manufactories of large extent which burn coal ; the
thinly -scattered population of these solitary regions use no other fuel
but turf or wood, the very light smoke of which is soon dissipated
without obscuring the atmosphere. Therefore, the sky is as pure as
in any part of continental Europe. In the lower part of Scotland, on
the contrary, and along the eastern and north-eastern side of the
country, where towns, large villages, and manufactories abound, and
Avhere coal is the ordinary fuel, not only the towns and their immediate
environs have their atmosphere obscured by a dense smoke, which the
wind drives from one side or another, but even in' the country most
remote from towns we may perceive that the air is still very foggy at
all seasons from this coal-smoke. It is the same with England, and
even when sailing, as I have pretty frequently done, along the pa»t of
the German Ocean which washes the eastern side of the British islands,
I have been always struck by the want of clearness in the air and its
misty appearance. Nothing could shew to me more clearly that this
fact was owing to the coal-smoke, than to see from the island of Ar-
ran, and especially from the tops of its mountains, during the finest
months of spring and beginning of the summer of 1839 (while Arran
itself was enjoying the purest air and sky), the opposite coasts of Ayr
and Renfrew constantly overhung by a belt of thick fog, like a long
grey cloud, rising to 1 or 1 J degrees on the horizon. It is not, then,
sui^prising that the scintillation of the stars should be affected by it.
But what influence can the aurora borealis have in re-establishing the
scintillation ? Of this I am ignorant.*''

GEOLOGY.

Surface of the Terrestrial Globe. — M. Rozet lately read a memoir to
the Philomathic Society of Paris, on some of the irregularities presented
by the structure of the terrestrial globe.

For twenty-five years the royal corps of geographical engineers,
blended in 1831 with that of the FMt Major, has been engaged in exe-
cuting a great topographical map of France. The numerous geodesical

* From Comptes Rendus, t. xii. No. 7, 15 Fev. 1841, p. 317-

Scientific Intelligence, '^G eology, 189

and astronomical operations undertaken for the basis of this map have
been collected and discussed by M. Puissant, in a work in two quarto
vols., entitled Desa-iption Geometrique de la France. It appears from
calculation that the surface of our country (France) cannot be repre-
sented by that of an ellipsoid of revolution, flattened at the poles, what-
ever value be assigned to the compression. The parts situate to the
west of the meridian of Paris are placed on elongated ellipsoids, while
those situate to the east, on the contrary, are placed on oblate ellip-
soids, the compression of which is more considerable than that generally
admitted. This indicates, at least in relation to France, great irregu-
larities in the structure of the globe.

Availing himself of the labours of Italian engineers and astronomers,
as well as Gennan and English, M. Rozet states that he has ascertained
that it is the same with Italy, certain parts of Germany, and of Eng-
land.

These irregularities, he says, are elevations and depressions which
extend over a considerable portion of the surface of our planet, but
which never amount to the 12,000th part of its radius, so that, taken
as a whole, it may be considered as an ellipsoid whose flattening at
the poles is j^g. These elevations appear in the hilly regions of
continents, leaving out the consideration of what we call mountains ;
while the depressions are observed in the spaces contained between the
chains of mountains, in the places adjoining the coasts, and, in general,
in the vast extent of the basin of the sea.

Observations of the seconds pendulum, made at a great number of
points on the surface of the globe, by MM. Arago, Biot, Mathieu,
Duperrey, Freycinet, Kater, Sabine, &c., confirm the results of astro-
nomy and geodesy. In such places as astronomical and geodesical ob-
servations indicate depressions, the pendulum lengthens ; it shortens,
on the contrary, in those where they indicate elevations.

Observations by the barometer, collected and aiTanged by M. Schouw,
professor of botany at Copenhagen, entirely agi-ee with the preceding.
In every place where geodesy, astronomy, and the pendulum indicate
depressions, the mean height of the barometrical column, deduced from
many years* observation, is greater than in those where these three
kinds of operations indicate elevations.

These in*egularities in the structure of the globe producing notable
anomalies in the direction of the plumb-line in passing from one place
to another, on the surface of seas as well as on that of continents, it
follows that the sea, every part of whose surface is perpendicular to the
vertical point, presents irregularities similar to those of the land ; a fact
perfectly demonstrated by observations of the pendulum and barometer.

190 Scientific Intelligence. — Geology.

It results from these observations that the flattening of the ellipsoid of
revolution which may be considered as jjg, — the osculator of the sur-
face of the earth at Paris, touching the mean level of the ocean at Brest,
to which all the points of the map of France are referred, — cuts the sur-
face of the sea, which it leaves sometimes above and sometimes below
its own level. At Rochelle, Formentera, Macao, Madeira, Isle of France,
Ascension, &c., it is above ; but at Koenigsberg, St Petersburgh, Edin-
burgh, Sierra-Leone, &c., it is below. Hence there are very extensive
portions of continents which are lower than the true level of the sea,
without being overwhelmed by the latter ; which is to be ascribed to
gravitation retaining the waters in the position they now occupy. But
if, by any cause, gravitation should undergo considerable variations in
some points of the globe, and geological facts indicate that such variations
have taken place at different periods, the waters would overspread
parts of the continents, and ultimately again recede from them if gra-
vitation should afterwards vary in a contrary direction at these same
places. We thus find an explanation of many geological facts, such as
the successive returns of the sea into the basin of Paris, supposed by
MM. Brongniart and Cuvier to have taken place in order to account
for the alternation of marine and lacustrine formations in this basin ;
the deposits of marine shells to a great distance inland ; the immersions
and emersions of the temples of Serapis at Puzzuoli, &c.

M. Rozet concludes his memoir by drawling attention to the fact that
the causes which have produced irregularities in the structure of the
globe have not yet ceased to act, as is proved by earthquakes, volcanic
eruptions, slow and continuous movements of the crust of the globe in
certain regions, &c. We may, therefore, yet see repeated the great
catastrophes which the surface of tlie earth has undergone anteriorly to
the historical period."'

5. On Indications of the former higher Level of the Sea in the Man-
riiinft. — Having read in the instructions prepared by the Royal Society,
for the Antarctic Expedition under Captain James Ross, that tlie island
of Bourbon presents indications of the sea having formerly occupied a
higher level than at present, and having observed similar appearances
in the Mauritius, Captain Lloyd was induced to lay the following facts
before the Geological Society : —

The island of Mauritius is belted by an enomious coral-reef through-
out its whole circumference, except for about ten miles of the broadest
and extreme southern side, or from Point Souffleur to Souillac, com-
monly called Port Savanne. Along that part of the island the coast is

* L'lnstHut, No. 382, p. 136.

Scientific Intelligence. — Geology. 191

bold, and consists of basaltic rock. Neare the Riviere de Galets, l>e-
tween Savanna and the Baie du Cap, the sea foams aji^ainst a barrier
of coral from five to fifteen feet in height, and wears it into the most
fantastic shapes. At a considerable distance inland, and almost con-
cealed by trees and shrubs, are two remarkable points or b.eadlands of
coral, from twenty to twenty-five feet abpve the present level of the
sea. They present the same marks of abrasion as the bamer reef now-
undergoing the action of the waves. The observatory. Port Louis, is
built also on a stratum, ten feet above high water-mark, of very hard
coral, which requires blasting. There are, besides, in several parts of
the island, and at considerable distances inland, enormous blocks of coral,
surrounded with the debris of oyster and other shells and broken corals.
Appended to Captain Lloyd's communication are .two letters from
agents appointed by him to collect information respecting inland blocks
of coral. One of the letters is from Mr Hill, surveyor of roads, and
contains the following data respecting two blocks near Souillac :—

Distance from the sea,

Probable height above high water,

Length,

Breadth,

Height, .....
Girth round the largest projections,

1st Bloik.

2a Block.

610 feet.

1356 feet.

60 ...

12 ...

.'K) ...

10 ...

12 ...

7i...

14 ...

40 ...

77 ...

If the first of these blocks had been transported by the sea. Captain
Lloyd says, it would have attained its present position only by passing
over the almost perpendicular coast.

The other letter is from Mr Sherlock, and gives the following mea-
surements of two blocks on the Black River: —

Height. Width. Circumference. Distance from the Sea.

1st Block, 13 feet. 30 to 40 feet. 121 feet. 250 feet.

2d Block, 10 ... 25 ... Length, 41 feet. 840 ...

Mr Sherlock adds, there is no coral in the interior, except a small bed
on the habitation Le Gentele.

6. Kloden on the Sinkinrj of the Dalmatian Coast. — Kloden has
collected a number of observations by new and old authors, which
prove in the most decisive manner that the coast of Dalmatia is con-
stantly sinking towards the Mediterranean Sea. He places this in
connection with the elevation of the Scandinavian coast ; but, instead
of regarding it as a general consequence of the gradually progressing
contraction of the earth's crust, he connects it with a great and ex-
tended volcanic action, of which so many traces present themselves
from the Greek Archipelago to Vesuvius and Etna. We must recoK

192 Scientific Intelligence, — Geology,

lect that we can know nothing of the connection between the volcanris
of the earth and the phenomena distributed over the whole globe, of the
gradual elevation of certain portions and the sinking of others ; but it
is certain that the hollows which can be produced by the evacuating
agency of volcanos, even during thousands of years, are too inconsider-
able to be taken into account in the explanation of the vast phenomena
of which we are speaking. After this subject had excited general in-
terest, geologists directed their attention to the sea-shells of still living
species, which occur high above the present level of the sea mixed with
beds of earth, as a proof that the sea had at one period stood there,
that is, that the land had been elevated above the level of the sea.
Such observations were made at much earlier periods ; but it is only of
late years that observers have supposed that there is evidence of a con-
tinued elevation actually in progress. (Berzelius's Jahresherickt).

7. Volcanic ashes at sea. — The following memorandum has been
handed to us by the Rev. Peter Parker, M. D., who was a passenger
in the Niantic from Canton to New York Ed.

Ship Niantic, L. F. Foty, master, April 5. 1840, being in Lat. 7° 05'
north. Long. 121° 10' east, at 2 a.m. sixty miles west from Mindanao,
one of the Philippine islands, came up a fine breeze from the north-east,
which was attended with a shower of dust resembling that of ashes. It
came so thick that it obscured the moon and stars which were all out
very clear before ; it filled the sailors' eyes so full that they were obliged
to retreat from the deck below ; it lasted about one hour, and cleared
away. At daylight, the Niantic looked like an old furnace, completely
covered from the royal mast head down to the water's edge. The decks,
I should judge, one-quarter of an inch thick with the ashes ; we took
up one-half bushel, and might have saved three or four. It fell in small
quantities at different times for two or three days after. On the 14th
of April, spoke the English barque Margaret, whaler; reporled, like-
wise, on the 5th of April had a similar shower of ashes, being at the
time three hundred miles north-north-east from us ; he informed me
that on the 12th of April, he visited several villages on the island of
Madura entirely deserted by the people, from one of which he had taken
two brass cannon, and several other articles. This led us to think that
some volcanic eruption had lately happened in that neighbourhood.
After the 9th, perceived no more in proceeding northward. — American
Journal, vol. xl. No. I., January 1841.

July 23d 1840.

8. On Human Bones of great Geological antiquity, — Dr Lund,
now residing at Lagou Santa, in Brazil, has communicated, that

Scientific IntelUgtnct. — Geology, 103

upon a late journey into the interior of Brazil, he had for the first time
met with human bones, in conjunction with the bones of acknowledged
extinct animals, which must be of an extraordinary antiquity, perhaps
the oldest bones that have ever been found ; for they are in part petri-
fied, and in their present condition altogether correspond with those of
the extinct animals, in connection with which they were found ! They
will, he observes, throw a light on the nature of the inhabitants of this
part of South America, in times which go much farther back than our
knowledge of this part of the world. The formation of the cranium is
extraordinary, inasmuch as the forehead does not rise in the same plane
with the face, but forms a considerable angle, by which peculiarity they
differ from all craniunis of living races of men, and resemble the de-
pressed heads represented in the ancient drawings of the Mexicans. In
connection with the extraordinary bones, was found a hemispherical-
shaped stone, quite polished on the under surface, which had evidently
been used for rubbing. — Athenauni, No. 698, March 13. 1841.

The Source of the River Oxus» — After quitting the surface of the
river, we travelled about an hour along its right bank, and then as-
cended a lowhill, which apparently bounded the valley to the eastward ;
on surmounting this, at five o'clock in the afternoon of the 19th of
February 1838, we stood, to use a native expression, upon the Bam-i-
Duniah, or '' Roof of the world," while before us lay stretched a noble
but frozen sheet of water, from whose western end issued the infant
river Oxus. This fine lake lies in the form of a crescent, about four-
teen miles long from east to west, by an average breadth of one mile.
On three sides it is bordered by swelling hills, about 500 feet high,
whilst along its soutliern bank they rise into mountains 3500 feet above
the lake, or 19,000 above the sea, and covered with perpetual snow,
from which never failing source the lake is supplied. From observations
at the western end, I found the latitude to be 37° 27' north by mer.
alt. of the sun, and longitude 73° 40' east by protraction from Langer
Kish, where the last set of chronometric observations had been obtained;
its elevation, measured by the temperature of boiling water, is 15,600,
feet — as my thermometer marked 184*^ Fahrenheit. The temperature
of the water below the ice was 32° — the freezing point.

This, then, is the position of the sources of this celebrated river,
which, after a course of upwards of a thousand miles in a direction gene-
rally north-west, falls into the southern end of the Sea of Aral. As I
had the good fortune to be the first European who in later times had
succeeded in reaching the sources of this river, and as, shortly before set-
ting out on my journey, we had received the news of her gracious
Majesty's accession to the throne, I was much tempted to apply the

VOL. XXXI. NO. LXI. JULY 1841. N

194 Scientific Intelligence. — Oeoloyy,

name of Victoria to this, if I may so term it, newly re-discovered lake ;
but on considering that, by thus introducing a new name, however
honoured, into maps, great confusion in geography might arise, I
deemed it better to retain the name of Gir-i-Kol, the appellation given
to it by our guides. The description of this spot given by that good
old traveller Marco Polo, nearly six centuries ago, is so correct in all its
leading points, that I have deemed it right to subjoin a considerable
portion of it. ^^ So great," says IMarco Polo, '' is the height of the moun-
tains, that no birds are to bo seen near their summits ; and, however
extraordinary it may be thought, it was affirmed that, from the keenness
oftheair, fires when lighted do not give the same heat as in lower
situations, nor produce the same effect in dressing victuals." — Travels
of Marco Polo, translated by W, MarsfUn. London 1818. — J/teut.
Wood on the River Oxus, p. 354!,

10. Thermal Springs in the upper par! of the River Oxus. — Fol-
lowing up the stream which wound in its stony bed along the foot of
the stupendous wall to our right, we arrived at the foot of Khawak,
distant twenty-nine miles from Indorab, on the afternoon of the 22d.
Six miles before reaching this halting-ground, we came on two ther-
mal springs gushing out from the side of a grassy hill, 400 yards
to the left of the path, at a place called Sir Ab. Their temperatures
were respectively 108° and 124° of Fahrenheit. — Lieut. Wood on the
River 0.xus, 413.

11. Hot Springs of Greenland. On our way back from Frederick-

sthal, says Captain Graah, we visited the hot springs Ounartok. The
western side of this island, which lies at the mouth of a firth of the
same name, is lofty, rugged, and almost totally naked, while the op-
posite side is low, and clothed with most luxuriant vegetation. It is
on this side that the springs are situate, lying, all three of them,
close by one another, at the NE. corner of the island. Of these springs
the one nearest the sea is altogether insignificant ; the temperature of its
waters was found to be 26° (90^.5 F.) ; the second, a few paces from it,
forms a lake of about forty-eight feet in circuit, and tlie temperature of
its waters was 27° (92°.75:> F.) ; the third is still larger, being about
seventy feet in circuit, and its waters from 32° to tV3^° ( 104° to 107°, F.)
all of Reaumur. The depth of these pools nowhere exceeds a foot, and
their bottom is composed of a soft bluish clay, through which the warm
water bubbled up at several places. The two large ones the Green-
landers have dammed in with stone, and make use of as bathing places.
Near the middle one, Arctander found, in 1777, the remains of a small
building, which he took to be from the time of the old colonists, and
whose walls were then one foot and a half high. Every vestige of

Scientijic Jnlelliyence, — Zoology. 196

them has, however, vanished, and their place is occupied by an old
Greenland hut. The water of these springs deposits a siliceous or
calcareous sediment, like Geiser and Strokr in Iceland. The Green-
hinders state that it is much hotter in winter than in summer, but this
opinion may proceed from the circumstance of the atmospheric air
being then much colder, and the contrast between its temperature and
that of the water much more perceptible of course than in summer—
(SraaUi Voyage to Greenland.

ZOOLOOV.

12. Continuation of Dr Martin Barry's Researches in Embryology ^
S^'C. — At a meeting of the Royal Society, Dec. 10. 1840, a communi-
cation was read, entitled '' Supplementary Note to a Paper, en-
titled ' Researches in Embryology. Third Series: a Contribution to
the Physiology of Cells.' " By Martin Barry, M.D., F.R.SS. L. & Ed.

In the paper referred to, the author had shewn, that after the ovum
of the rabbit has entered the Fallopian tube, cells are found collected
around its thick transparent membrane or '' zona pellucida ;" which
cells, by coalescing, form a thinner membrane — the incipient chorion.
He now adds, that the formation of this thinner membrane does not
exhaust the whole layer of these cells ; but that a stratum of them is
found remaining on, and entirely surrounding, the "zona," after the
thinner membrane has risen from it. The fluid space also between the
" zona" and the thinner membrane, presents a large number of cells
pr discoid objects, each of which contains a brilliantly pellucid and
highly refracting globule. In some parts, several of these discs, closely
joined together, have the appearance of shreds of membrane ; in others,
there are found pellucid globules, some of which are exceedingly mi-
nute. The discs now mentioned collect at the periphery, for the
thickening of the chorion. They seem to proceed from the region of
the " zona ;" and probably have their origin in the cells by which the
latter is surrounded. If so, the author thinks we cannot suppose them
to arise in any other way than that which, according to his observations,
appears to be the universal mode of reproduction, namely, by division
of the nuclei of the parent cells. Nor can we suppose that minute-
ness is any hinderance to their subsequent increase by the same means.

At a meeting of the Royal Society, Jan. ?• 184-1, a paper was
read, entitled, '' On tlie Chorda dorsalis." By Martin Barry, M.D.,
F.11.SS. L. & E.

. The author of this connnunication, after pointing out the similarity
in appearance between an object noticed by him in the mammiferous
ovum, and the incipient chorda dorealiB described by preceding ob*

196 Scientific Intelligence. — Zoology.

servers in the ova of other vertebrata, mentions some essential differ-
ences between his own observations and those of others as to the nature
and mode of origin of these objects, and their relation to surrounding
parts. Von Bacr, the discoverer of the chorda dorsalis^ describes this
structure as " the axis around which the first parts of the foetus form/
Reichert supposes it to be that embryonic structure which serves as
" a support and stay" for parts developed in two halves. The author's
observations induce him to believe that, instead of being " the axis
around vrhich the first parts of the fcetus form/' the incipient chorda is
the last- formed row of cells, w^hicli have pushed previously-formed cells
farther out, and that, instead of being merely ^' a support and stay"
for parts developed in two halves, the incipient chorda occupies the
centre out of which the " two halves " originally proceeded as a single
structure, and is itself in the course of being enlarged by the continued
origin of fresh substance in its most internal part.

The author enters into a minute comparison of the objects in ques-
tion ; from which it appears that the incipient chorda is not, as Baer
supposed, developed into a globular form at the fore end, but that the
linear part is a process from the globular ; and that the pellucid cavity
contained within the latter — a part of prime importance, being the
main centre for the origin of new substance — is not mentioned by Von
Baer. Farther, that the origin of the " lamina; dorsales" of this natu-
ralist (the " central nervous system" of Reichert) is not simultaneous
with, but anterior to, that of the chorda.

The author then reviews the observations of Rathke and Reichert
on the chorda dorsalis, which contain internal evidence, he thinks, of a
process in the development of fishes, reptiles, and birds, the same as
that which he has observed in mammalia ; namely, the origin of the
embryo out of the nucleus of a cell.

And it is his opinion that this observation may assist to solve a
question on which physiologists are not agreed ; for it shews that if
the nucleus of a cell is a single object, the first rudiments of the embryo
are not two halves. The author thinks that, unless the very earliest
periods are investigated, it is in vain that we attempt to learn what
that is of which the rudiments of the embryo are composed. From
not attending to this, physiologists have supposed their '' primitive
trace" to arise in the substance of a membrane, which the author, in
his second series on the embryo, shewed could not be the case. To the
same cause he thinks is referable an opinion recently advanced by
Reichert, that the first traces of the new being are derived from edh
^»f the yelk*

Scientific Intelligence, — Zoology. 197

January 14, 1841. — A paper was read, entitled, "On the Cor-
puscles of the Blood." Part II. By Martin Barry, M.D., F.R.SS.
L. & E.

The observations recorded in this memoir are founded on an examina-
tion of the blood in every class of vertebrated animals, in some of the
invertebrata, and in the embryo of mammalia and birds. The nucleus
of the blood-corpuscle, usually considered as a single object, is here
represented as composed, in some instances, of two, three, or even
many parts ; these parts having a constant and determinate form. In
the substance surrounding the nucleus, the author has frequently been
able to discern, not merely ^^red colouring matter," but cell-like
objects ; and he points out an orifice as existing at certain periods in
the delicate membrane by which this substi'nee is surrounded. In a
former menjoir he had differed no less from previous observers regard-
ing " cells." He had shewn, for instance, that the nucleus of the cell
instead of being *' cast off as useless and absorbed," is a centre for the
origin, not only of the transitory contents of its own cell, but also of
the two or three principal and last-formed cells, destined to succeed
that cell ; and that a separation of the nucleus into two or three parts,
is not, as Dr Henle had supposed in the case of the Pus and Mucus-
globule (the only instances in which the separation in question had
been observed), the effect of acetic acid used in the examination, — but
that such separation is natural, apparently common to nuclei in gene-
ral, and forniii]g part of the process by which cells are reproduced.
The author had farther shewn the so-called nucleolus to be not a dis-
tinct object existing before the nucleus, but merely one of a series of
appearances arising in succession, the one within the other, at a certain
part of the nucleus, and continuing to arise even after the formation
of the cell. These views he now confirms ; and in the present paper
shews that they admit of being extended to the corpuscles of the blood.

He then compares appearances observed in the latter with those
he had traced in the ovum. These relate to the number of parts of
which the nucleus is at different periods composed, — tlie nature of the
nucleolus, — the communication between the nucleolus and the exterior
of the cell, — the formation of the contents of the cell out of the nucleus,
— the final division of the nucleus into the foundations of a limited
number of young cells, destined to succeed the parent cell, — and tlie
escape of the young cells for this purpose. It follows from these inves-
tigations, that the corpuscles of the blood are generated by a process
essentially the same as that giving origin to those cells which are the
immediate successors of the germinal vesicle, or original parent cell ; it
being also by a continuation of the same process that the corpuscle <X

198 Scientific Intelligence . — Zoology/,

the blood divides itself into the minuter objects figured by the author
\n his former paper on the blood.

"He adds, that in its form and internal state, the blood-corpuscle
found in the adult of certain animals, very much resembles that exist-
ing only in the foetal life of others. It is incidentally remarked, that
the foetal brain, at certain periods, appears to consist almost entirely
of objects very much resembling those which, in some stages, form the
nuclei in the foetal corpuscles of the blood.

The author concludes by expressing his ophiion that the mode of
evolution of the minute mammiferous ovum is deserving of close atten-
tion, hi connexion with some of the processes by which nourishment is
communicated, and the growth of the body effected, at all future periods
of life.

13. Opium- Eaters. — l)r Poqueville, in his travels through the Mo-
rea, gives a minute account of the opium-eaters termed Theriakis, an
appellation by which they are designated, in consequence of their being
extravagant and irregular characters. " They begin,'* says he, " with
only half a grain, and increase the dose as they find it to produce the
desired effect. They take care not to drink water after it, as that
would bring on violent colics ; but the man who, at twenty, takes to
opium, seldom lives beyond the age of thirty or thirty-six. In the
course of a few years, the dose is increased to upwards of a drachm
or sixty grains. At this time, a pallid countenance and extreme lean-
ness announce a state of cahexia, which is only a prelude to a general
marasma or consumption of flesh. The infatuation is so great that the
certainty of death, and all the infirmities that lead to it, is incapable of
correcting a Theriaki, or a person addicted to the use of opium ; he
coldly answers to any one who apprises him of his danger, that his
ha^Dpiness is incomparable when he has absorbed his pill of opium. If
it be asked to define this supernatural felicity, he only says that it is
impossible to describe it, as it is a pleasure not to be explained. These
miserable beings, however, towards the close of their life, or rather of
that state of stupefaction into which they are plunged, experience the
most severe pains and a continued hunger ; they are tormented by a
desperate satyriasis, without the capability of satisfying their desires ;
in short, they experience pains which even the delicious paragoric can-
not assuage ; and having become hideous, deformed by numerous peri-
ostoses, deprived of their teeth, and afflicted with an incessant trem-
bling, they cease to exist a long time before their life is at an end.
The Baron de Tott, writing on the same subject, gives a miserable pic-
ture of those who frequent the opium-market at Constantinople, de-
scribing them as having pale and melancholy countenances, with meagre

Scientific Intelligence. — Zooloyy. 199

necks, heads twisted to one side, back bones distorted, shoulders drawn
up to the ears, and other extraordinary appearances. Seated in the
twilight of the evening, or reclining on sofas, in the little shops, ranged
along the walls of the Mosque of Solyman, may be seen the infatuated
Theriakis swallowing their opium-pills in proportion to the degree of
want, which habit has rendered necessary. Each poor votary anxiously
awaits the agreeable reverie that is to follow, as the effect of this in-
dulgence. He soon retires to his home, full of an imaginary happiness
which neither reason nor the realities of life can procure ; and in this
manner, each succeeding day witnesses a repetition of the same irregu-
larity, till, worn out with debility and intemperance, he at last sinks
like a shadow into the grave. In addition to these observations, the
following anecdote will be read with interest : — An English ambassa-
dor, lately sent to a Mahometan prince, was conducted, upon his arri-
val at the palace, through several richly decorated and spacious apart-
ments, crowded with officers, arrayed in superb dresses, to a room,
small in dimensions, but ornamented Avith the most splendid and costly
furniture. The attendants withdrew. After a short interval, two
persons, of superior mien, entered the saloon, followed by state-bearers,
carrying, under a lofty canopy, a litter covered with delicate silks, and
the richest Cashmere shawls, upon which lay a human form, to all ap-
pearance dead, except that its head was dangling from side to side, as
the bearers moved into the room. Two officers, holding rich filagree
waiters, carried each a chalice, and a vial containing a dark fluid. The
ambassador, considering the spectacle to be connected with some court
ceremony of mourning, endeavoured to retire ; but he was soon unde-
ceived by seeing the officers holding up the head of the apparent corpse,
and after gently chafing the throat, and returning the tongue, which
hung from a mouth collapsed and gaping, pouring some of the black
liquor into the throat, and closing the jaw until it sunk down the pas-
sage. After repeating six or seven times the ceremony, the figure
opened its eyes, and shut its mouth voluntarily ; it then swallowed a
large portion of the black fluid, and, within the hour, an animated be*
ing sat on the couch, with blood returning into its legs, and a feeble
power of articulation. In the Persian language he addressed his visi*.
tor, and inquired the particulars of his mission. Within two hours,
this extraordinary person became alert, and his mind capable of ardu-
ous business. The ambassador, after apologizing for the liberty, ven-
tured to inquire into the cause of the scene which he had just wit-
nessed.

" Sir," said he, '' I am an inveterate opium-eater ; I have by slow
degrees fallen into this melancholy excess. Out of the diurnal twenty-

200 Scientific Intelligence, ^^Zoology .

four periods of time, I cont inually pass eighteen in this round. Unahle
to move or to speak, I am yet conscious, and the time passes away
amid pleasing phantasies ; nor should I ever awake from the wan-
derings of this state had I not the most faithful and attached servants,
Avhose regard and religious duty impel them to watch my pulse. As
soon as my heart begins to falter, and my breathing is imperceptible,
except on a mirror, they immediately pour the solution of opium into
my throat, and restore me as you have seen. In these four hours, I
shall have swallowed several ounces ; and much time will not pass away
ere I relapse into my ordinary torpor."

SCIENTIFIC TRAVELLERS.

14. Mr Lyell's Expedition to America. — We understand that Mr
Lyell, having finished the new edition of his Element's of Geology in
two volumes, and which will be published early next month, is about
to proceed to the United States of America, where he proposes to re-
main a year, for the purpose of examining some of the great geological
features of that varied and highly-interesting region, including a part
of Canada. It is said that he is to begin with Nova Scotia — that from
thence he is to explore the valley of the St Lawrence, and then to go
through the Northern States. The investigations of this indefatigable
and distinguished geologist in countries hitherto so little examined by
those conversant with the formations of Europe, cannot fail to throw
much light on many obscure points connected with the comparative geo-
logical structure of the Old and New Continents. Mr Lyell has been
invited to give a course of lectures in the Lowell Institution at Boston,
which he has agreed to do early in November. The Lowell Institu-
tion is very probably unknown to most of our readers, and we propose
at some future time to give an account of its establishment and objects.
At present we merely state, that the city of Boston owes the liberal
endowment of a series of regular courses of public lectures to the munifi-
cence of the late Mr John Lowell jun. That amiable and accomplished
gentleman, and ardent traveller Cwho received part of his education in
Edinburgh), was cut off at Bombay in 1836, at the early age of .37,
and bequeathed the sum of L.50,000 Sterling for *^the maintenance
and support of public lectures, to be delivered in Boston upon philo-
sophy, natural history, the arts and sciences, or any of them, as the
trustees shall, from time to time, deem expedient for the promotion of
the moral, and intellectual, and physical instruction or education of the
citizens of Boston." An interesting memoir of Mr Lowell was de-
livered by Mr Edward Everett, as an introduction to the lectures on
his foundation, in the Odeon, Boston, on the 31st December 1839.

List (if Patents, 201

15. Mr Murchison's Journey in Russia. — Our enterprising and
enthusiastic friend, Mr Murchison, is again actively employed this
summer in following up in Russia the geological investigations which
'he commenced so auspiciously last year, and of which we have pub-
lished an account in the present number of this Journal. In company
with a small party of geological fnends, Mr Murchison proposes tra-
cing out the relations of the formations of European Russia as far as
Orenburg and the Ural Mountains, and we believe that it is his intention
to penetrate likewise into the bordering tracts of Asiatic Russia. From
the well-known scientific acquirements and energy of Mr Murchison
and his companions, Count Keyserling and M. de Verneuil, we antici-
pate very important geological results from their travels.

List of Patents granted for Scotland from 22d March to
22d June 1841.

1. To Matthew Uzielli of King 'Williara Street, in the city of
London, merchant, being a communication from abroad, " improvements
in impregnating and preserving wood and timber for various useful pur-
poses.''— 22d March 1841.

2. To Joseph Stubs of Warrington, in the county of Lancaster, file
manufacturer, being a communication from abroad, " certain improvements
in the construction of screw Avrenches, and spanners for screwing and un-
screwing nuts and bolts." — 26th March 1841.

3. To George Henry Fourdrinier, and Edward Newman Four-
DRiNiER, both of Hanley, in the county of Staftbrd, paper-makers, being a
communication from abroad, " certain improveraeuts in steam-engines for
actuating machinery, and in apparatus for propelling ships and other
vessels on water." — 31st March 1841.

4. To William M'Kinley of Manchester, engraver, " certain improve-
ments in machinery, or apparatus for measuring, folding, plaiting, or lap-
ping goods or fabrics." — 31st March 1841.

5. To Charles Green of Birmingham, in the county of Warwick, gold
plater, " improvements in the manufacture of brass and copper tubes." —
1st April 1841.

6. To Henry Newson Breweb of Jamaica Row, Bermondsey, in the
county of Surrey, mast and block maker, " an improvement or improve-
ments in wooden blocks for ships' rigging, tackles, and other purposes
where pullics are used. — 7th April 184 J.

7. To John Barber of Manchester, in the county of Lancaster, en-
graver, " certain improvements in machinery for the purpose of tracing or
etching designs or patterns on cylindrical surfaces." — 8th April 1841.

8. To George Blaxland of Greenwich, in the county of Kent, en-
gijieer, " an improved mode of propelling ships and vessels at sea and in
navigable waters." — 8th April 1841.

202 List of Patents.

9. To James Pilbrow of Tottenham, in the county of Middlesex, en-
gineer, "certain improvements in steam-engines." — 8th April 1841.

10. To Robert Pettit of Wood House Place, Stepney Green, in the
county of Middlesex, gentleman, " improvements in railroads, and in the
engines, carriages, and wheels employed thereon." — 12th April 1841.

11. To William Samuel IIenson of Allen Street, Lambeth, in the
county of Surrey, engineer, " certain improvements in steam-engines." —
14th April 1841.'

12. To Henry Bessemer of Percival Street, in the parish of Saint James,
Clerkenwcll, in the county of Middlesex, engineer, " a ne^y mode of
checking the speed of, or stopping, railroad carriages, under certain cir-
cumstances,"— 20th April 1841.

13. To Hugh Graham of Bridport Place, Hoxton, New Town, in the
county of Middlesex, artizan, " an improved manufacture of that kind of
carpeting usually denominated Kidderminster carpeting." — 21st April
1841.

14. To Ezra Jenks Coaxes of Bread Street, Cheapside, in the city of
London, merchant, being a communication from abroad, " improvements
in the forging of bolts, spikes, and nails." — 28th April 1841.

15. To John Watson of Glasgow, in the kingdom of Scotland, mer-
chant, " improvements in printing fabrics where discharging presses are

. used."— 28th April 1841.

IG. To John Haughton of Liverpool, clerk, A. M., " improvements in
the means employed for preventing railway accidents, resulting from one
train overtaking another." — 28th April 1841.

17. To James Eansome and Charles May of Ipswich, in the county
of Suifolk, machine-makers, " improvements in the manufacture of rail-
way chairs, railway and other pins or bolts, and in wood fastenings or
trenails."— 28th April l«4l.

18. To Peter Fairbairx of Leeds, in the county of York, engineer,
and William Suttill of the town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, flax-spiniicr,
** certain improvements in drawing flax, hemp, wool, silk, and other
fibrous substances." — 28th April 1841.

19. To William Newton of the Office for Patents, 66 Chancery Lane,
in the county of Middlesex, civil-engineer, being a communication from
abroad, " improvements in sj)inning and twisting cotton and other mate-
rials capable of being spun and twisted." — 30th April 1841.

20. To Thomas IIobinson of Wilmington Square, in the county of
Middlesex, gentleman, being a communication from abroad, " improve-
ments in drying wool, cotton, and other fibrous materials in the manufac-
tured and unmanufactured state." — 30th April 1841,

21. To Lancelot Powell of Clydacli Works, in the county of Brecon,
iron- master, and Robert Ellis of Clydach aforesaid, agent, " certain im-
provements in the manufacture of iron." — 5th May 1841.

22. To William Edward Newton of the Office for Patents, 66 Chan-
cery Lane, in the county of Middlesex, civil-engineer, being a communi-
cation from abroad, "certain improvements in the process or method of
manufacturing lime, cement, masticj Artificial stone, stucco, and other si*

Lint of Patents. 203

niilai* compositions possessing the useful properties of hardness, colour,
and indestructibility when exposed to damp." — 7th May 1041.

23. To David Walther of Angel Court, Tliro^morton Street, in the
city of London, merchant, beinj^ a communication from abroad, " certain
improvements in the methods of purifying vegetable and animal oils, fats,
and tallow, in order to render those substances more suitable for soap-
making or for burning in lamps, or for other useful purposes, part of which
improvements are also applicable to the purifying of the mineral oil or
spirit commonly called petrolium or naphtha, or coal-tar, or spirit of coal-
tar."— 7th May 1841.

24. To James Whitelaw and George Wiiitelaw, engineers, resid-
ing in Glasgow, in the county of Lanark, Scotland, "a new mode of pro-
pelling vessels through the water, with certain improvements in the steam-
engines, when used in connection therewith, parts of w hich improvements
are applicable to other useful purposes." — 10th May 1841.

25. To Thomas Lawes of Canal Bridge, Old Kent Road, in the county
of Surrey, feather-factor, being partly a communication from abroad, and
improvements made by himself, " certain improvements in the method
or process, and apparatus for cleansing and dressing feathers." — 10th May
1841.

26. To Angier March Perkins of Great Coram Street, in the county
of Middlesex, engineer, " improvements in apparatus for heating by the
circulation of hot water, and for the construction of pipes or tubes for
such and other purposes." — 12th May 1841.

27. To George Dacres Paterson of Truro, in the county of Cornwall,
Esq., " the following improvements in curvilinear turning, that is to say,
a rest adapted for cutting out wooden bowls and a self-acting slide-rest
for other kinds of curv'ilinear turning." — 12 th May 1841.

28. To William Kenworthy of Blackburn, in the county of Lancas-
ter, spinner, and James Bullough of the same place, overlooker, " certain
improvements in machinery or apparatus for weaving." — l7th May 1841.

29. To Christopher Dumont of Mentz, in the kingdom of Germany,
but now of Mark Lane, in the city of London, being a communication from
abroad, " for improvements in tho manufacture of metallic letters, figures,
and other devices." — 17th May 1841.

30. To John Paley junior, of Preston, in the county or Lancaster,
manufacturer, *' certain improvements in looms for weaving." — 20th May
1841.

31. To Edward Henshall of Huddersfield, in the county of York,
carpet-manufacturer and merchant, " certain improvements in making,
manufacturing, or producing carpets and hearth-rugs." — 24th May 1841.

32. To William Petrie of Croydon, in the county of Surrey, gentle-
man, " a mode of obtaining a moving power by means of voltaic electricity
applicable to engines, and other cases where a moving power is required.''
—24th May 1841.

33. To Moses Poole of Lincoln's Inn, in the county of Middlesex,
gentleman, being a connnnnication from abroad, " improvements in the
manufacture of fabrics by felting." — 24th May 1841.

34. To William Joest of Ludgate Hill, in the (jity of London, mer*
chant, being a communication from abroad, " improvements in propelling
^estielsi"— 24lh May 1841.

itdi List of Patents.

35. To Andrew M'Nab of Paisley, in the county of Kenfrew, North
Britain, cn^neer, " certain improvements in the manufacture of bricks."
26th May 1841.

36. To Christopher Nickels of York Koad, Lnmbeth, in the comity
of Surrey, gentleman, being partly a communication from abroad, and
partly invention of his own, " improvements in the manufacture of mat-
tresses, cushions, paddings, or stuffings, and in carpets, rugs, and other
napped fabrics." — 1st June 1841.

37. To John Clay of Cottingham, in the county of York, gentleman,
and Frederick Rosenborg of Sculcoates, in the county of York, gentle-
man, " improvements in arranging and setting-up types for printing." —
3d June 1841.

38. To Sir Samukl Brown, Knight of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic
Order, Commander in her Majesty's Navy, of Netherbyres House, Ayton,
in the county of Berwick, " improvements in the means of drawing or
moving carriages and other machines along inclined planes, railways, and
other roads, and for drawing or propelling vessels in canals, rivers, and
other navigable waters." — 4tli June 1841.

39. To William Brockedon of Queen Square, in the county of Middle-
sex, Esq., " a composition of known materials, forming a substitute for
corks and bungs." — 9th June 1841.

40. To John Lambert of No. 12 Coventry Street, in the parish of Saint
James, within the liberty of the city of Westminster, gentleman, being
a communication from abroad, " certain improvements in the manufacture
of soap." — lOth June 1841.

41. To Richard Laming of Gower Street, Bedford Square, in the county
of Middlesex, surgeon, " improvements in the production of carbonate of
ammonia." — 14th June 1841.

42. To Joshua Field of Lambeth, in the county of Surrey, engineer,
*' an improved mode of effecting the operation of connecting and discon-
necting from steam-engines the paddle-wheels used for steam-navigation."
^16th June 1841.

43. To Andrew M'Nab of Paisley, in the county of Renfrew, North
Britain, engineer, " an improvement or improvements in the making or
construction of meters, or apparatus for measuring water or other fluids.*'
— 21st June 1841.

44. To Joseph Maudslay of Lambeth, in the county of Surrey, engi-
neer, " improvements in the arrangement and combination of certain parts
of steam-engines, to be used in steam-navigation." — 21st June 1841.

45. To John Condie of Blair Iron- Works, Ayr, in the kingdom of
Scotland, " improvements in applying springs to locomotive and railway
and other carriages." — 22d June 1841.

46. To George Richards Elkington and Henry Elkington of
Birmingham, in the county of Warwick, " improvements in coating,
covering, or plating certain metals." — 22d June 1841.

47. To Moses Poole of Lincoln's Inn, in the county of Middlesex,
gentleman, being a communication from abroad, " improvements in pro-
ducing and applying heat." — 22d June 1841.

THE

EDINBURGH NEW
PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL,

Sketch of the Geological Investigations and Writings of Baron
Leopold von Bach. By the late Professor Frederick Hoff-
mann of Berlin.

Leopold von Bucii and Alexander von Humboldt, the two
most distinguished men who issued from the celebrated school
of Freiberg at its most flourishing period, have acquired for
themselves the reputation not only of extending the Wer-
nerian System in all directions, but also of surpassing their
master in this respect, that, proceeding from the principles
which he had introduced into the science of geognosy, they
first saw the inapplicability of his geogenetic views, and, by
abandoning these, communicated to our science an entirely
new, or, in other words, its present very promising aspect.

Of all Werner's scholars. Von Buch is unquestionably the
one who has contributed the most to the advancement of the
special branch of our science, and to whom we owe the most
numerous and the most important explanations of the subjects
upon which our present knowledge and conclusions respecting
the formation of the crust of our globe are founded. Among
the distinguished men who preceded him, H. B. Saussure is
the only one with whom he can be compared ; for he not
only equals him in his vast mineralogical and physical know-
ledge, in acuteness, in power of observation, and in indefati-
gable zeal, but he also resembles him in this respect, that, in
possession of external advantages, he has devoted himself en-
tirely to science, without regard to the common affairs of
life ; and it is such men, who, from pure enthusiasm, follow
their own internal impulse, and dedicate themselves entirely

VOL. XXXI. NO. LXU. — OCTOBER 1841. 0

206 Professor Hoffmann on the Geological Investigations

to science, without attending to any distracting occupations
whatever, that have at all times most materially contributed
to its advancement.

Earlier Investigations in Germany. — After he had com-
menced the study of geognosy at Freiberg, under the special
superintendence of Werner, Von Buch opened the career of
his own observations by the examination of the mountainous
tracts of Silesia, which are so rich in important phenomena.
In the year 1797, he finished his little separate work, entitled
" Attempt at a Mineralogical Description of Landeck," {Ver-
such einer nmieralogischen Beschreihung von Landeckj Bres-
lau, 1797.*) This essay, which immediately excited attention,
is still a very useful contribution to the knowledge of that
interesting district ; but it is more especially to be recom-
mended for perusal, because it may be regarded as a model of
simple and clear representation, and of luminous and concise
description. When Von Buch prepared it, he still transferred
to nature all the geognostical views adopted by Werner ; and
we find in it a most vigorous defence of the Neptunian origin
of basalt, which we may now consider as an instructive docu-
ment for enabling us to judge of the state of the science at
that period. Here we have not only presented to us, as the
result of careful study, all the cases in which organic remains
had been observed in basalt, but it is, moreover, shewn, that
the basalts of Silesia rest on the most diversified older and
younger rocks, even on such as are older than the coal-forma-
tion, and hence, by the application of the Wernerian doctrine
as to the origin of volcanos, that they cannot have been pro-
duced by volcanic agency.

Immediately after the publication of Buch's description of
a detached mountainous district, there appeared his geognos-
tical description of Silesia, which is dedicated to Werner
himself. This is accompanied by a geognostical map of Si-
lesia, which is wonderfully complete for the period at which
it was executed, and which has only recently been perfect-
ed and extended by the detailed observations of Von Raumer,
Von Oeynhausen, Zobel, and Von Carnall. The descrip-

* Translated into English by Dr Charles Anderson of Leith, 18 10^

and Writings of l^aron Leopold von Buck, 207

tion itself contains many facts which were then entirely new.
Von Buch there directs attention to a peculiar rock which had
previously been entirely overlooked, which forms the Zobten-
Berg that has a height of upwards of 2000 feet, and which af-
terwards, when he had found it in many other parts of Europe,
he minutely described in the Magazin der Berliner Gesellschaft
naturforschender Freunde^ 1810 and 1813, iv. 128, and vii.
234, and termed Gabbro. The facts adduced by him in this
description, taken collectively, have reference not only to the
principle that the rocks occurring in Silesia, from the oldest
to the youngest, are products deposited from water, but also
to the opinion that all stony masses, and the inequalities of
the surface of the earth, had been formed at the same places,
and under the same circumstances, as we find them at the
present time. This principle was applied in a very happy
manner to the vast conglomerate-formations of the rothe
Todte and of the coal-series. He shewed very beautifully
how the boulders or rolled stones which these contain, always
correspond to the older rocks occurring beneath them at the
surface ; further, how these boulders become always smaller,
the conglomerates always finer and more like sandstone, the
further we remove from the rocks whence they were derived.
He was, however, at that time far from believing that the
agitation of the waters which separated these masses, and
which had heaped up such gigantic masses of fragments, could
have been caused by the eruption of the porphyries that had,
in such immense masses, partly thrust themselves between
these conglomerates, or become enveloped by them. We
also find much discussion on the floods which formed the
gneiss and mica-slate, and which could only deposit them in
particular districts, and in certain directions, because the
older mountain-rocks existed in already formed chains. These
descriptions, however, are so clear and so distinct, that they
are to be regarded as extremely complete even in the present
state of our knowledge.

Observations made in the Alps, and in Italy, — In the year
1797, L. V. Buch quitted the field of his investigations in Nor-
thern Germany, and directed his course to the Alps, the scene
of his most important observations. At Salzburg, a neigh-

208 Professor HoflPmann on (he Geological Investigations

bourhood so extremely rich in natural beauties and splendid
geognostical displays, lie met Von Humboldt. He has given
so correct and attractive a representation of the environs of
Salzburg, that we can still advantageously make use of it as
an unsurpassed model of the description of a magnificent
mountainous tract ; the course of the mountains, the nature
of the Alpine lakes, the forms of the valleys (more especially
that of Gastein), with their basins and burstings, are delineat-
ed with the most striking fidelity and elegance. The state of
geognostical knowledge at that period did not admit of the
determination of the part of the Wernerian series to which
the rocks predominating in the outer parts of the Alps are to
be referred ; but nevertheless we find the first hints of the
fact recently so remarkably established, that the prevalent
rock of the calcareous Alps, contrary to the generally received
opinion, is comparatively of very modern formation.

The two naturalists passed the winter of 1797-8 at Salz-
burg, and this residence was rendered very important by the
meteorological and eudiometrical investigations instituted by
Humboldt. The next spring Buch continued his journey
across the Alps to Italy, and as he made a careful exa-
mination of the central chain of the Alps through the Tyrol,
we have to thank him for the first minute geognostical section
of that range of mountains, and which he afterwards admirably
combined and compared with a similar section of Mont Cenis,
This comparative section formed the germ of the important
scientific investigations of Ebel. At this time he stopped but
a short period in northern Italy, and was there occupied with
the volcanic Euganean hills near Padua ; for, his eagerness to
study the phenomena of active volcanos, urged him to the
south.

We owe to him an excellent and skilfully combined account
of the tract on which Rome is built, where he triumphantly
opposes the views of the Italian geologist Breislak, who
brought forward the opinion that Rome is built on the craters
of extinct volcanos, of which the chief was the ancient Forum
J^omanumj the present Campo vaccina.

In the Albanian hills he met with a variety of phenomena,
which disturbed the ideas that he had brought with him from

and Writings of Baron Leopold von Buck, 209

Germany, regarding the utter insignificance of volcanic action,
and the nature of volcanic rocks. He found there a number
of distinctly melted rocks, which resembled basalts in the
most remarkable manner, both in form and composition ; and
he then first made the observation, which has been so import-
ant in its consequences, that certain crystalline constituent
parts of basaltic lava, such as Leucite and Augite, must have
been of contemporaneous origin with the principal mass of the
rock (Journ. de Fhys. vi. 352), a remark which has become the
key to the correct view regarding all porphyries and rocks of
a Hke nature. Notwithstanding this, however, Buch was still
not shaken at that time in his conviction of the Neptunian
origin of the German basalts, and of the limitation of volcanic
action to the newer epochs ; and probably nothing can afford
a more perfect idea of the influence exercised by Werner over
his scholars than a letter written from Rome, the 23d Sep-
tember 1798, and published in Von Moll's Jahrhuch der Berg-
und-Huttenhunde, vol. iii. p. 361.

After many delays, Buch at last arrived in Naples for the
first time, on the 19th February 1799. He there studied
Vesuvius, and has given us an incomparably beautiful and
animated description of every thing connected with this re-
markable mountain, of the form of its crater, and of the
changes which it undergoes. The recollection was still fresh
of one of the greatest eruptions which Vesuvius ever exhi-
bited, that of 1794, which destroyed Torre del Greco ; and his
account of the phenomena that accompanied it is a masterly
delineation of a sublime natural event. Vesuvius then pre-
sented no eruptive appearances, for though the bocche of
1794 were still smoking, the large crater was emptied, and
there was a funnel 400 feet deep, whose interior was inacces-
sible. It was not till the year 1804 that the mountain, ex-
hausted by its excessive efforts, again began to be disturbed,
and on the 12th August 1805, there was a remarkable erup-
tion, at which, Buch, Humboldt, and Gay- Lussac were together
present. This he also described, and we in this way possess
the first regular description of the phenomena which take
place during the eruption of a volcano, and the first attempt
to bring them into connection with one another ; even at the

210 Professor Hoffmann on the Geological Investigations

present day we must often return to the descriptions there
given, and by much the larger portion of the observations
there communicated have been subsequently confirmed in the
most striking manner.

Volcanic district of Central France. After his first residence
in Southern Italy, Buch proceeded in 1802 to the south of
France ; he first visited the remarkable district of Auvergne,
so celebrated for its richness in extinct vqlcanos, and ex-
amined the environs of Clermont and Mont d'Or, upon w^hichso
much light had been partially throvi^n by the observations of
Guettard, Soulavie, Dolomieu, and Faujas de St Fond. He
was the first to bring forward anew the discovery made by
Dolomieu, that the volcanos rise through granite, a fact,
attention to which had repressed the Wernerian doctrines
when in their highest repute. He also pointed out, that
most of these volcanos consist of a previously unobserved
peculiar felspathic rock, which he termed Trap-porphyry, or
Domite, from its forming the Puy de Dome. It was then re-
garded by him as a granitic mass altered by the inflation pro-
duced by vapours, and by imperfect fusion, and he believed
that whole mountains of it, like bubbles in a pasty liquid,
could be elevated without bursting at the top, and therefore
without exhibiting eruptive phenomena. It is the same rock
which now generally receives the name of Trachyte, given to
it by Haiiy, and of which we know, and that chiefly from
BucVs subsequent observations, that it forms the nucleus and
the products of the oldest eruptions of all the accurately de-
scribed volcanos of the earth.*

Buch again saw in Auvergne, and more distinctly than
before, basalts which were undistinguishable from those of
Germany, breaking out in currents at the foot of trachytic
hills; and, although he had certainly changed his views very
considerably respecting volcanic phenomena, yet the notions
he had originally imbibed, as to the formation of basalts,
were so deeply rooted in his mind, that he concluded his ac-
count of Auvergne with the following words, — " We thus
stand astonished and perplexed with the result to which we

* Sec an elaborate memoir printed in the Transactions of the Berlin
Academy, 1812 and 1813, p. 127.

and Writings of Baron Leopold von Buck, 211

are necessarily led by the phenomena of Mont d'Or. But even
the most zealous volcanists could not venture to regard this
result as an universal one, and to apply it to German basalts.
Should the opinions be contradictory, new observations must
reconcile the contradiction."

All these facts, collected by Buch during the first years of
his studies, and which were of such high import for the sci-
ence of geognosy, were detailed in a separate work, entitled
Geognostical Observations made during travels in Germany
and Italy {Geognostische Beohachtungen auf Beisen durch
Beiitschland und Italien) ; 2 vols. 1802 and 1809.

Journey through Scandinavia. — The labours of which we
have hitherto spoken were but the commencement of the ca-
reer of this great naturalist. After having finished his travels
in the south of Europe, the wish to obtain general conclusions
regarding the geognostical constitution of the entirely unex-
plored north, urged him to proceed to Norway. He passed
more than two years in Scandinavia, viz. from July 1806 to
October 1808. His entrance into that remarkable region was
immediately distinguished by a brilliant and memorable dis-
covery. He began his investigations in the neighbourhood of
Christiania, and found there a phenomenon of a peculiar de-
scription, differing from every thing previously known of the
constitution of the crust of the earth. The greatest astonish-
ment was excited by the observation, that granite, which was
universally regarded as an undoubted primitive rock, and was
considered by Werner as the originally created nucleus of our
planet, occurs in that locality between younger rocks, being,
throughout large tracts, covered by a peculiar limestone which
abounds in fossils. Associated with peculiar porphyries the
granite traverses this limestone in numerous veins, and changes
it at the junction in a manner which has subsequently been
more fully described by Keilhau.* Thus, at that period, a near
approximation was made to the opinion that granite and por-
phyry had been ejected from the interior of the earth ; but
still the ideas then universally prevalent in geognosy were
quite at variance with such a belief.

* Poggendorflfs Annalaif v. 133,

212 Professor Hoffmann on the Geological Investigations

After this important discovery, Buch crossed the Dovre-
field by Sneehattan to Drontheim ; thence he travelled north-
wards, partly by land partly by water, through the innumera-
ble rocky coasts and islands, until he at length, towards the
end of July 1807, reached the most northern point of Europe
— the North Cape, on Mager-Oe (71° 20'). He examined the
geognostical structure of the island, and had the satisfaction
to find again the new rock, first discovered by him in Silesia,
the Gahbro, Our indefatigable observer returned through
Lapland up the river Alton, and then down the Tornea river
to Tornea, whence he travelled along the coast by Stockholm,
and back to his starting-point Christiania.

The results of this remarkable journey were, in many points
of view, of the highest importance ; for not only were a large
number of valuable and unexpected conclusions obtained re-
garding the structure of the crust of the globe in these re-
gions, but we also acquired, apart from the masterly delinea-
tions of scenery and cultivation, a rich collection of facts re-
specting the climate and the limits of vegetation of these
mountainous countries ; and lastly, we derived from it one of
the most important observations which we owe to Buch, — I
allude to the conclusion to which he was led by the remark-
ably distinct depression of the height of the level of the sea,
more especially on the coasts of the Gulf of Bothnia, viz. that
the whole continent of Sweden is still constantly rising very
slowly from Frederickshall to Abo, and probably to Peters-
burg.

All Buch'*s observations are recorded in his work entitled
Travels through Norway and Lapland (2 vols., Berlin 1810).*
They were afterwards partly not only confirmed by Haus-
mann, Hisinger, Keilhau, Naumann, Wahlenberg, and Hall-
strom, but were enlarged and extended by these naturalists.
Each of these geologists, however, has only taken up certain
portions ; for no one has yet produced a work similar to Buch's
on the whole country.-f

* Translated into English by Mr Black, editor of the Morning Chronicle,
with Notes by Professor Jameson. London, 1813.

t We know that Professor Keilhau has materials for a geological account

and Writings of Baron Leopold von Buck. 213

After his return from these memorable undertakings, Ger-
many was the object of his extensive and long-continued in-
vestigations, and he likewise directed his particular attention
to the Alps. The results, however, of his examination were,
for the most part, not developed until a period which followed
the most attractive of Buch's expeditions.

Voyage to the Canary Islands. — He started from England
for the Canary Islands in company with the distinguished
Norwegian botanist. Christian Smith, who afterwards lost his
life in the unfortunate English expedition to the Congo. They
landed in Madeira towards the end of April 1815, where they
pursued some interesting studies in the geography of plants ;
they thence sailed to Teneriffe, and ascended the Peak ; they
next visited the islands of Gran Canaria, Palma, and Lance-
rote, and returned to England in December 1815.

The results of the expedition were of especial importance
in a geognostical point of view. A picture was given us of
the constitution of these islands which far excels all the pre-
vious descriptions. Leopold von Buch produced maps of Lan-
cerote, Palma, and Teneriffe, in which the geological delinea-
tions are his exclusive work, and which furnish a proof of what
faithful representations can spring from a mere proper appre-
hension of the objects. In the engraver Tardieu, he found an
artist who understood the art of combining the true spirit of
delineation with elegance and precision ; and the maps of Pal-
ma and Teneriffe far surpass everything of the kind which
has hitherto been executed of analogous regions. Buch's
geognostical examination has afforded the result, that all these
islands are the work of volcanic agency exerted on its grandest
scale. The products of this action were recognised according
to the regularly succeeding periods of their formation. In this
respect we must regard as extremely instructive the observa-
tion of the series of volcanic beds superimposed on one an-
other, and which were followed down to the level of the sea

of a large portion of his native country, and we trust that they will soon bo
given to the scientific world. His very valuable description of the neigh-
bourhood of Christiania, contained in the first part of the Goea Nort-egica,
augurs well for the manner in which the other portions of Norway will bo
treated. — Edit.

214 Professor HofFmann on the Geological Investigations

in the deep ravines of Palma. Buch first directed attention
to the fact, that the colossal cone of the PeaJc of TenerifFe is
surrounded, at a height of 7000 feet above the level of the
sea, by a magnificent amphitheatre of volcanic rocks of older
formation, in the midst of which the majestic cone, composed
of pumice and obsidian, was not elevated till a later period.
As to Lancerote, we have presented to us a grand and asto-
nishing picture of the gigantic operations which in 1730 pro-
duced one of the greatest known eruptions, an eruption that
covered several German square miles* of country continuously
with lava.

Islands of Elevation. — But Buch proceeded much further
in his investigations respecting the influence .of volcanos on
the form of the surface of the earth, and thus enriched science
with a multitude of remarkable facts. From an ingenious
comparison of the best data, he deduced the conclusion, that
all the innumerable islands scattered throughout the oceanic
regions of the globe, such, for example, as the Canaries, are
of volcanic origin. He not only triumphantly overthrew the
opinion which had been so frequently brought forward, that
the groups of islands in the South Sea are the remains of a
sunken continent, whose former mountain summits now re-
main uncovered and insulated, but he also shewed that all
these islands are formed in a similar and peculiar manner, in-
asmuch as they all possess in their centre a funnel-shaped
cavity, whose bounding walls consist of the terminations of
the strata of the stony layers which rise up uniformly and cir-
cularly from the edges of the coast. This circumference is
broken up by numerous perpendicular, narrow, "^radiating, fis-
sure-like valleys ; and, in the interior of the great central
cavity, a new volcano has been formed, and individual erup-
tions have taken place through the walls. This peculiar ar-
rangement, these circularly ascending strata, these fissures,
and the hollow in the centre, are the consequences of an ele-
vation which took place prior to the outbreak of the volcano.
The now-inclined layers of lava, volcanic tufa, and conglome-
rate, were at one time horizontally disposed on the ancient
bed of the sea, and have been subsequently driven upwards

^ A German mile s=s 4§ English.

and Writings of Baron Leopold von Buck, 215

by a perpendicular shock ; and hence he termed all islands
thus formed Islands of Elevation, and their central cavities
Craters of Elevation^ which last he was induced to distinguish
carefully, and according to their nature, from Craters of Erup-
tion, He had also remarked that many of the volcanos dis-
tributed over continents, so far as we are intimately acquainted
with them, are, like these islands, surrounded by a similar ex-
ternal ring ; and hence the relation of craters of elevation to
craters of eruption has come to be considered as a natural law
frequently exhibited in districts of volcanic origin.

Ingenious and acute as this view is, and much as it contri-
butes to the simplification of our ideas on volcanic subjects, it
was by no means at once received generally by geologists after
its announcement. The English geologists especially, as Dau-
beny, Scrope, and Lyell, did not assent to it ; and in France
likewise it has been made the subject of a very obstinately
conducted controversy. The opponents of Buch's opinions
have urged, as their chief argument, that all volcanos partly
produced under our observation, or, if extinct, provided with
distinctly preserved craters of eruption, which have been
formed by the gradual heaping up from the centre of the sub-
stances forming their acclivities, are constructed in a manner
precisely similar to islands of elevation.

However this difference of opinion may be decided, the vol-
canic origin of the islands distributed over the great ocean re-
mains at all events untouched ; and Buch has annexed a very
complete general view of the distribution of volcanic action
over the whole surface of the globe. The conclusions obtained
from this delineation are very remarkable ; for it results that
the volcanos on the surface of the earth lie collected chiefly in
certain lines, which very frequently have a relation to one
another. These lines he proposed to account for in a very
natural manner, by great fissures through which the subter-
ranean forces formed a path for themselves, and it is undoubt-
edly very remarkable that these lines not only very frequently
correspond generally with the outline of the great continental
masses, but also that, in detail, they run parallel to the course
of higher mountain-chains, composed of older elevated rocks,
at whose base they break forth.

216 Professor Hoffmann on the Geological Investigations

The first of these facts is admirably exhibited in the band
of volcanos which surrounds the continent of part of India and
China, and which extends through the islands of Sunda, the
Moluccas, and the Philippines ; the continuation of this line
follows the coast outline through Japan and Jesso, passing by
the Kurile chain of islands to Kamtschatka. Thence, how-
ever, this great fissure proceeds with remarkable distinctness
through the series of the Aleutian islands to America ; and
here, again, there runs along the whole west coast of that
continent, to the southern extremity, an almost unbroken
range of still burning volcanos. With regard to the paral-
lelism of the higher mountain-chains with lines of volcanos, there
is a fine example of it on the north coasts of New Guinea, New
Holland, and the intervening islands ; it is very clearly seen
in a series of volcanos in the Archipelago of the Islands of
Greece ; and the whole arrangement of the Italian Peninsula
points in a most perfect manner to the same phenomenon.

These views, so splendid and so generally true, contributed
more than all that preceded them to the advancement of our
science ; the conclusion was now approached very nearly that
not only our great continental masses, but also our individual
mountain- chains, have been placed in their present position
by elevation, and by the tearing asunder of their connection
with the former bed of the sea. The forces pressing up from
the interior (compressed vapours) could only escape through
the cracks produced at the edges of the crust of the earth ;
and where, as in the South Sea, innumerable fissures and open-
ings were formed, there no connected continental mass could
rise up, but, on the contrary, the continent, which would other-
wise have been elevated, remained behind under the bed of
the sea.

By means of this view of the subject, there naturally dis-
appeared all the remains of the one-sided ideas founded on
local phenomena, which, owing to the influence of Werner's
doctrines, had remained behind, and that more especially in
Germany ; and the approbation of the present age could not
fail to accompany this extension of our scientific knowledge.
Hence all the more distinguished of the newer geologists have
at once adopted this opinion, and made their observations

and Writings of Baron Leopold von Bach, 217

under tins belief; at the same time the original proposer of the
theory has himself adduced a large series of facts which have
given it a very high degree of development. Its original funda-
mental principles, which were derived from the more minute in-
vestigation of the Canary Islands, are contained in a valuable
work entitled " Physical Description of the Canary Islands"
(Physikalische Beschreibung der Kanarischen Inselti), Berlin,
1825, 4to, with a folio atlas,* in which, together with the geo-
gnostically important facts, there are also many important sub-
jects in physical geography treated of, such as the geographical
distribution of the plants, the temperature of the springs, and
the meteorological phenomena of these islands. Regarding
some of the more important subjects which serve as the basis
of the theory which we have been discussing, there is much
information contained in the two following essays, viz. " On
the Structure of Basaltic Islands, and on Craters of Elevation"
{Ueber die Zusammensetzung der Basaltischen Inseln undueber
Erhebimgs-Kratere), published in the Transactions of the Ber-
lin Academy for 1818 and 1819, and reprinted in Leonhard's
Taschenbuch for 1821, p. 391 ; and " On the Nature of the
Volcanic Phenomena in the Canary Islands, and their con-
nection with other Volcanos of the surface of the Earth"
{Ueber die Natur der Vulkanischen Erscheinungen auf den
Kanarischen Itiseln, mid ihre Verbindung mit andern Vulkanen
der Erdoberfldche)^ published in Poggendorff 's Annaleny x.
1827.

After Buch's return from the Canary Islands, he visited the
Hebrides on the west coast of Scotland, so remarkable for
their richness in trap-rocks, and likewise the Giant's Cause-
way in Ireland.t

Formation of Mountain-Chains, — He now resumed his pre-
viously commenced investigations in Germany and the Alps.
From a constantly advancing knowledge of the chain of the

* An octavo edition in French, containing new matter regarding vol-
canos, and re\'ised by V. Buch, was published in the year 1036. — Edit.

t Von Buch remained about three months in Scotland. Ho not only vi-
sited the Hebrides, but also examined the geognosy of the Forth district dur-
ing his residence in Edinbui^h, where we had the happiness of making bis
acquaintance. — Edit.

218 Professor Hoffmann on the Geological hives tig ations

Alps and its internal relations, his views were developed re-
garding the mode of formation of that vast display of mountains,
as well as of all the mountain-chains of the earth. Proceed-
ing from the idea of a connection of the whole great moun-
tains of the Alps, as an independently existing mass, the pa-
- rallel direction of all chains composing it had become an ob-
ject of his attention. This feature was first noticed by Saus-
sure, and was enthusiastically followed up by Ebel.

Buch made the discovery, that the Eastern Alps, compared
with the Western, possess a remarkable peculiarity. After
the whole mountain mass, from the northern extremity of the
Mont-Blanc chain to Austria, has retained uninterruptedly the
direction from SW. to NE., it undergoes a sort of bifurcation
near the small town of Obdach, in the neighbourhood of
Gartz. One portion continues its old direction in the Wiener
Wald, then sinks towards the plain of Lower Hungary, in
which the Neusiedler See lies, but again rises in the form of
low ranges of hills, which confine the Danube near Presburg,
and, along with the primitive rocks which there present them-
selves, passes with a similar direction into the rapidly ascending
Carpathians. The southern portion, or the principal mass of
the mountains, directs its course from Gratz in a remarkable
manner, abruptly at right angles to its former direction ; and
it passes in a south-easterly direction into the high mass of
mountains w^hich extend through Carinthia and Carniola, by
Idria and Trieste, to the peninsula of Istria, the coasts of Dal-
matia, and the innumerable long islands forming fragments of
parallel chains. This line of direction is repeated in the
mountains of Bosnia, Servia, Bulgaria, and in the Balkan, and
the eastern termination of this vast mass of mountains is ge-
nerally considered to be at the prominent Cape Emineh, on the
coast of the Black Sea.

It is particularly remarkable, and it is an observation which
we owe to the investigations of Von Buch, that precise-
ly at the point where the central stem of the Alps divides,
near Obdach, and in the opening between the two diverging
branches, there occur hills of volcanic origin, of Trachyte, a
feature which does not present itself previously in the whole
region of the Alps. He has described the discovery of these
volcanic hills, and the phenomena they present, in the Trans-

and Writings of Baron Leopold von Buck. 219

actions of the Academy for the year 1818-19.* The conchi-
sion was very near, that in the interior of the earth there re-
main volcanic masses which may have caused the elevation of
the whole chain of the Alps, and that these very naturally ap-
pear at the surface, where they succeeded in tearing asunder
the principal mass of the mountains, and where no resistance
opposed further obstacles to their breaking forth.

This remarkable fact, which is immediately connected with
what Saussure believed himself obliged to conclude upon
grounds of an entirely different description, respecting tlie
opposite termination of the Alps, viz. the chain of Mont
Blanc, was soon after confirmed by an important series of ob-
servations by Buch, which exercised the greatest influence
on the development of our views as to the origin of mountain-
chains generally. The scene of these observations was the
Southern Tyrol on both sides of the Etsch-Thal, and some
neighbouring mountainous districts, more especially towards
the east.

Views regarding Porphyries and Dolomite, — For a long period
previously, the attention of naturalists had been attracted by the
occurrence of a mass of porphyry (a rock which does not occur
elsewhere in the Alps), in Southern Tyrol, and more espe-
cially along the road leading by Brixen and Botzen, from the
Brenner to Italy. In that neighbourhood, on the left bank of
the Etsch, in the valley of Fassa and its lateral valleys, the
mountain- chains are particularly distinguished by their re-
markably broken outline, and by the abrupt and bold relief of
their isolated projecting summits. These features attracted
Buch for several years in succession to this part of the Alps,
and he here detected the key to the explanation of important
geological relations.

He ascertained by minute examination, that the mass of
porphyry mentioned above consists of two entirely distinct
formations. The one is characterized by its prevailing red
colour, and by the invariable occurrence in it of entirely sepa-
rated grains of quartz ; its predominating ingredient is felspar.
The other porphyries, on the other hand, resemble basalt in

* LeonluwVs T(u^cJienbuch, 1821, p. 467.

220 Professor Hoffmann on (he Geological Investigations

their dark, often blackish-green colour ; they never contain
entirely separated grains of quartz, but consist essentially of
augite or pyroxene, which likewise causes their dark colour.
The two kinds of porphyry are always distinctly separated
from each other ; Buch termed the first red or quartzose por-
phyry, and the second black or augite porphyry {melaphyre of
Brongniart).

The mutual relations of these porphyries are extremel}'^
singular. It was found that the red porphyry must be of
much more ancient origin than the black ; for, where the two
are in contact, not only, as already stated, are they unusually
sharply and distinctly separated from each other, but the one
is likewise always penetrated and broken up by the other.
But the different influence exercised by these two porphyries
on the position of the surrounding rocks was of still greater
importance. The red porphyry is in this respect indifferent ; it
occurs in conformable union with the distinctly stratified red
sandstone which is always associated with it, and on which
repose conformably the limestones of theliigher chains of the
^Ips. Such, however, is by no means the case with the me-
laphyres. Everywhere in their vicinity, phenomena of dis-
turbance and breaking up present themselves ; it is true they
are often surrounded by a peculiar conglomerate, which is
without the stratification exhibited by the red sandstone, and
in which the fragments are confusedly mingled, and lie to-
gether without any prevailing faces of stratification. It cannot
be doubted that this conglomerate has been formed by friction
and division of parts at the place where it is now found, and
not of rolled fragments deposited from large masses of water.
There is not a single rock in the neighbourhood which occurs
in conformable relations with the black porphyries ; they
have sometimes raised the rocks to the surface, which are now
partly surrounded and supported by them in large fragments,
and sometimes they cut through and tear asunder all the
younger rocks, and have altered in the most remarkable man-
ner their original positions. Wherever in that district a sud-
denly appearing alternation presents itself at the surface ;
wherever precipitous, sharply serrated, inaccessible rocky cones
arise, there the black porphyry is not far distant, and occurs

and IVritings of Baron Leopold von Buck. 221

in such a position that we cannot easily avoid regarding its
presence as the cause of these extraordinary peculiarities in
the form of the external surface.

The striking alteration which the proximity of the black
porphyry causes in the nature of the rocks with which it comes
in contact, is just as important. Wherever it is connected
with the prevailing limestones, these assume a different cha-
racter. The limestone in most cases loses its distinct stratifi-
cation, and is converted into a formless mass, which is fissured
in irregular directions ; its usually compact, coarsely earthy
condition, has passed into a peculiar, crystalline, sharply granu-
lar structure, resembling that of sugar. A more minute ex-
amination shews even that this altered saccharine mass is no
longer a carbonate of lime, but a combination of carbonate of
lime and carbonate of magnesia, which was previously known
in other places, and had been distinguished by mineralogists
under the name of Dolomite.

These are the most essential, and in part surprising new
facts, which Buch discovered in a district of the Alps which
had previously not been minutely investigated. The most of
them are described in a series of memoirs which are published
together in Leonhard's Taschenhuch for 1824, and which are
accompanied by an excellent geognostical map, and by very
remarkable sections.

The consequences which he deduced from these observa-
tions are of the highest importance. He found that the por-
phyries discovered by him are to be observed again in several
places of the region of the Alps, to the east as well as to the
west of this principal district, and always in the direction of
the chief line of the Alps, at the foot of steep mountain
chains. On that account he no longer doubted that the
issuing forth of this newly-discovered porphyry-formation
had been the cause which elevated the gigantic chain of the
Alps, and placed it in its present position. Whenever these
porphyries appear, there we find along with them the singular
snow-white saccharine dolomite rocks. He thence drew the
conclusion that the porphyry had converted the limestone into
dolomite in a peculiar manner. The limestone was fissured
throughout, and, by means of the passages thus affbrded, the

VOL. XXXI. NO. LXII.— OCTOBER 1841. P

222 Professor Hoffmann on the Geological Im^estic/ations

ingredient which came up with tlie porphyry could unite with
the limestone, without its meeting an unsurmountable opposi-
tion from the impenetrability of a solid mass. The connec-
tion between the augite-porphyry and the dolomite appeared
so much the more intimate, from the augite containing a large
quantity of magnesia.

This process, however different it might appear from the
previously received ideas as to the formation of rocks, was
most ingeniously illustrated by the manner in which the dolo-
mite seems united with the limestone. Thus, we do not by
any means find, where the limestone, from its proximity to the
porphyry, loses its stratification, that it is converted uniformly
into dolomite, but we find that the stratification has been
broken up and rendered indistinct, partly by confused mixture
of the parts, partly by the breaking up of the strata by a mul-
titude of fissures running in all possible directions. From
these fissures, however, the dolomization proceeds, for their
walls consist of crystalline-granular dolomite to a greater or
less depth in the neighbouring limestone, and all the small
cavities and empty spaces are covered with dolomite druses,
and thus the conversion can be effected more or less perfectly.
As Buch found throughout the southern Tyrol, that wherever
the dolomite occurred, there the black porphyry was at no
great distance, he very naturally concluded, that where masses
of dolomite present themselves in other portions of the Alps,
the black porphyry must be near, and only from some acci-
dental circumstance in its position not visible at the surface.
His views, therefore, were very perfectly applicable to the
whole range of the Alps, and the southern Tyrol might thus
be regarded as the key to the complete understanding of the
chains of which it is composed.

The application of this brilliant discovery could, however,
be still further extended. Now that attention was so promi-
nently attracted to this subject, large masses of dolomite were
found in many limestones in other portions of Europe, as in
England and the interior of Germany. Wherever porphyries
were known to exist (as is so frequently the case in Germany),
a more minute examination proved that these must be dis-
tinguished into a red and a black, or into quartziferous and

and TTritings of Baron Leopold x>on Bitch. 223

non-quartziferous. The phenomena of which we have spol^en
as occurring in the Alps, served therefore as the type of simi-
lar features over the whole surface of the earth, and the same
conclusions were applicable to both. As all mountain-chains
must have been formed by elevation, the conclusion was easily
drawn, that the black porphyry had everywhere caused this
elevation ; likewise, that it is every where newer than the red,
and that the masses of dolomite so frequent at the edges of the
older rocks were produced by it in the manner already de-
scribed. Von Buch applied these views to two of our more
important ranges of mountains, the Hartz and Thilnnger
JFald, with the view of shewing that the same phenomena are
just as distinct there, though on a much smaller scale, as in
the Alps, and that it is only necessary to regard them under
a point of view which, though differing much from previously
entertained opinions on the subject, is not the less perfectly
well founded in the nature of things.

The importance of these views, and the influence which
they exercised on so many subjects which have since become
the unalienable property of the science of geology, render it
necessary to subject them to a strict and calm examination.
It appears at first sight but little probable that the numerous
alterations which have taken place in relative positions as to
level, and in consequence of the breaking up of the surface of
the earth, should have been the work of one and the same
erupted volcanic formation ; for, in all epochs of the forma-
tion of the crust of the earth, volcanic rocks have made their
appearance at the surface, often of greater extent and in
larger quantity than the masses of black porphjTy, and we can-
not assume that one alone of them all should have been able
to effect such striking changes. This is particularly worthy
of attention, and was left out of consideration in applying the
discoveries made in the Alps. It is also necessary to deter-
mine, at what relative period of time the changes happened
which were effected by the black porphyi'y. When the first
accounts were published of the dolomite and melaphyre, data
of a more minute kind were awanting as to the strata which
had been more especially subjected to these operations.
Geologists were then inclined to regard the limestones, which

224 Professor Hoffmann on the Geological Investigations

in the Alps are ruptured and changed by the melaphyre, as
belonging to the middle period of the secondary series, with-
out, however, great weight being attached to this important cir-
cumstance. But afterwards it v/as proved, that this limestone
is actually of younger formation than was imagined, and that
it belongs to the period of the chalk and its older adjoining
formations. Hence the elevation which had taken place in
the Alps is comparatively a very new event, and hence the
period of its occurrence can no longer be applied to the above-
mentioned elevations of the mountains of Northern Germany ;
for the porphyries which have there come into operation, were
formed at a comparatively much older date. In the north of
Germany we have no porphyry whose date is more recent than
the rothe Todte.

Further, it has not yet been established by direct observa-
tion, that the red and black porphyries of Northern Germany
exhibit the same marked separation which is so distinctly ap-
parent in Southern Tyrol. In the neighbourhood of the
Hartz, and of the Tliuringer JFald, on the river Nahe in
lower Silesia, and at Meissen, no undoubted breaking through
of the red porphyry by the melaphyre has been ascertained,
whether it be that, from the want of sections in these less ex-
posed and less elevated rocks, such phenomena escape the ob-
server, or that there the two porphyries occur as members of
one and the same great and contemporaneous formation, which
presents different characters at different places.

At the Lake of Lugano, likewise, the relations of the two
porphyries in the region of the Alps have given rise to doubt,
and all observers have not believed themselves justified in
participating in the view which Buch has given of that clas-
sical locality.* It would rather appear, from my own obser-
vations, that, vice versa, the red porphyry forms veins in the
black, and that both are of older origin than the limestone,
which, therefore, has, without their operation, been converted
into the remarkable dolomite of Monte Salvatore,

♦ Every geological traveller to the lovely and interesting shores of the
Lake of Lugano has experienced the value of Von Buch's map which ac-
companies liis account of that spot. — Edit.

and Writings of Baron Leopold von Buck. 225

Many other difficulties have been raised as to Buch's view
of the origin of dolomite, and these have been strongly urged
by English geologists. The chief ground of this opposition
has been, that in England there is a formation that occurs re-
gularly in a determinate order of stratification, which consists
chiefly of dolomite (dolomitic limestone), but partly also of
common limestone, and which bears the name of magnesian
limestone. The application of Buch's ideas to this case is at-
tended with many obstacles.*

The chemists, likewise, and particularly Berzelius, have
maintained, that the conversion of limestone into dolomite
could not have taken place in this way, because magnesia,
according to all the experiments that have been made, can
not be sublimed ; but here we ought to consider that the con-
ditions of this phenomena cannot be imitated in laboratories,
and that we ought not to regard as impossible what has not
succeeded there.

Finally, the discovery has been made in various parts of
France and Germany, that in the midst of distinctly stratified,
regularly formed limestones (as in the Muschelkalk), whole
stratified masses occur which consist chiefly of dolomite.
Had these limestone-formations been affected by the penetra-
tion of hot vapours, in consequence of proximity to any volca-
nic rock, the pure limestones would have been converted into,
granular marble, and the magnesian limestones into crystalline
dolomite ; that such is really the case, follows clearly from the
examination of many marble rocks, in which granular marble
and dolomite almost always occur together, and united with
each other in such a manner that we can be in no doubt as
to their similar origin. An excellent example of such appear-
ances is afforded by the celebrated marble quarries of Carrara.-|*

Although these discoveries of Von Buch, and the views
founded on them, have not been found susceptible of that ge-

* Some geologists are inclined to draw a line of distinction, as to origin,
between the dolomites of the Alps, &c. and the magnesian limestones of
England, &c., just as they would also separate the gypsums of the Val Co.-
nana, and other similar localities, from the gypsum of tlie Paris basin, &c.
—Edit.

t See Professer Hoffmonu's paper in this Journal, vol. xxi. p. 116.— Edit.

226 Professor Hoffmann on the Geological Investigations

neral application which their proposer endeavoured to give
them, yet they have undoubtedly been of the greatest advan-
tage to the science. Not only have new facts been discovered,
but attention has, in consequence, been more pointedly awa-
kened to a number of appearances whose investigation has
produced new ideas respecting the structure of individual por-
tions of the crust of the earth.

Elevation of mountain-chains. — A great advancement of
our ideas regarding the elevation of mountain- chains is im-
mediately connected with the application of these views.
During these investigations, the observation made by Saussure
was very successfully taken up, that in the Alps, not only the
central chain has a certain prevailing chief longitudinal direc-
tion, but that all the secondary chains run parallel, and in
such a manner, that they constantly present their steeper
acclivities to the principal chain, and their gentler accli-
vities to the edges of the mountain-mass. Von Buch con-
vinced himself, during his numerous journeys in central Eu-
rope, of the fact, which is also evident in geognostical maps,
that in all elevations which rise up pretty prominently, the
same phenomenon recurs, just as in the larger mountains, with
great distinctness.

The explanation of this remarkable fact, which no preceding
geologist had endeavoured to investigate, was no longer far dis-
tant; for, an entirely similar arrangement had been already found
in the linear distribution of volcanos on the surface of the earth.
We have already seen, that these bands of volcanos also, not
unfrequently run parallel to the chief longitudinal direction
of the mountains, and that they protrude on longitudinal
fissures which were formed at the time of their eruption.
Now, Buch has distinctly and incontrovertibly shewn, that
mountains are produced by elevation ; their central chains
are usually composed of plutonic, crystalline-granular rocks,
which had not, till subsequently, intruded themselves among
the previously-formed combination of strata ; their chief longi-
tudinal direction must therefore be the direction of the fissure
by which these broke forth at the period of the elevation
of the mountains ; and, when we observe, on both its sides,
the precipitous acclivities of the secondary chains always

and Writinga of Baron Leopold von Buck, 227

turned towards the central chain, we find ourselves driven
to recognise in these, the violently-separated, widely-opened
edges of the fissures from which the central chain was elevated.
When this fissure first burst open, and when its edges were
puslied wide asunder by the melted mass erupted from a
great depth, the lateral pressure which these ascending se-
condary chains exercised on the strata in connection with
them, must have produced a multitude of secondary fissures
parallel to the chief one. The powerful and various move-
ments of the surface during the elevation of a mountain-chain,
combined with the unequal lateral pressure of the ascending
masses on the walls of their principal fissures, must have pro-
duced irregular and diversified altered portions of strata at
the edges of the secondary fissures. Where no secondary
fissures were found, owing to the strata being soft and yield-
ing, there these must necessarily occur in saddle-shaped forms
parallel to the fissures, or in protuberant contortions. In a
word, whenever the protrusion of one or more volcanic rocks
occurred, and caused the formation of abruptly- elevated moun-
tain-chains, there, in an extensive superficial space, a large
number of subordinate small parallel chains on both sides of
the principal chain must have been the consequence ; and
these now cover the district, and exhibit in their sections,
sometimes contortions, sometimes saddle-shaped arrangements
of stratification.

This phenomenon has communicated to whole tracts of
country their prevalent physiognomy, which is made quite
apparent in their representations on maps ; and hence it must
be principally attended to in descriptive geography, in order to
convey a proper conception of the fundamental form of such
districts. The theory thus originally amply detailed by Buch,
to account for the formation of the irregularities on the sur-
face of our globe, has been everywhere confirmed in the most
striking manner.

The Alps, which first gave rise to the conception of this
view, present an enclosed mass abruptly rising with an uniform
longitudinal direction, and all their parallel chains are de-
pendent on the great principal fissure from which the central
chain arose. This central fissure has, however^ operated t

228 Professor Hoffmann on the Geological Investigations

a great extent laterally, for the Jura, strikingly parallel to the
great principal mountains, though at a great distance from
them, runs through Switzerland in a northern direction ; and,
in this range, which anew rises like a barrier, and presents its
steep declivity towai'ds the Alps, there appear a large number
of subordinate parallel chains, following one another in an im-
dulating manner, and forming, in their stratified profiles, some-
times acute saddle-shaped arrangements, sometimes basins or
broken-up arches, between which many parallel valleys occur.

Palassou* had previously observed the same feature in the
Pyrenees, but without attempting an explanation ; for that
range of mountains is also composed of an innumerable num-
ber of distinctly-separated parallel chains, which, collectively,
follow a course from NW. to SE. at right angles to the
Alps.

But this remarkable phenomenon is nowhere to be observed
in its iv\\ extent in greater perfection, though on a smaller
extent as to height, than in the hilly country of northern
Germany, and which I myself have subjected to a careful and
long-continued examination. It is only necessary to cast a
glance over the geognostical map of that district, in order to
be at once struck by the distinctness of this remarkable fact ;
and it certainly appears singular that it had not sooner ex-
cited the attention of geologists.

We perceive that the largest of the older mountain-groups
which occur there, forms a perfectly connected mass with the
distinctly prevailing NW. and SE. longitudinal direction, and
it is certainly not an accidental circumstance that all the other
older masses in the region, such as the Thiiringer JVald, the
older rocks in the Magdeburg territory, and in Altmark, as
well as the separate eminences of the older rocks in the Werra
districts, follow precisely the same parallel direction. Farther,
we find arranged in precisely the same direction, not only all
the small parallel chains which border on these older masses,
and which present steep, disturbed, and broken-up forms,
but also all the considerable ranges of hills which lie scattered
between these older mountain masses.

* Essai 8ur la Mineralogie des Monts Pyrenees.

and Writings of Baron Leopold von Buck, 229

Quitting the Hartz from the south side, we see rising, at the
distance of three or four German miles, the northern edge of
the extensive table-land of Eichsfeld and of Middle Thuringia,
having an average elevation of from 1000 to 1200 feet. It
extends in a direction exactly parallel to that of the Hartz ;
and, in the broad longitudinal valley between the two, there
rises the Kyffhauser chain of hills to a height of 1400 feet,
which likewise runs from NW". to SE.

Similar features present themselves on the north side of the
Hartz, and where, at the edge of the alluvial plain, the eleva-
tion of the ranges of hills is too inconsiderable to admit of the
prevailing longitudinal direction being made distinctly appa-
rent, it is only requisite to delineate with colours on the map
the distribution of the formations, in order to perceive in a
marked manner, that each rock occurs in the line of the gene-
ral parallel direction.

This law of the NW. and SE. direction, is further exempli-
fied towards the west, in a remarkable manner, in all the in-
numerable ranges of hills of Westphalia on the left bank of
the Weser, and it terminates there with the steep chain of the
TeutoburgerWaldjWhich, in all its subordinate parts, extends in
a marked way in the same direction. The same law is percep-
tible in the alluvial plain to the north, in the course of the prin-
cipal valleys of the Elbe, the Weser, and the Aller, which have
all a predominating dkection from SE. to NW. ; nay, it is exhi-
bited even in Sweden, for in South Schonen and in Bornholm,
all the ranges of hills, consisting of granite, gneiss, and secondary
rocks, have the same direction as that of the ranges of North
Germany. To the east, the same direction occurs in the hills
on both sides of the Elbe near Dresden ; also very distinctly
throughout the whole of Silesia in the principal chain of the
Sudeten^ in the porphyry ranges of the coal-formation, in the
limestone-chains of Upper Silesia, and in all the ranges which
lie between, until at length it terminates completely at the
Carpathians, which, as already remarked, derive their line of
direction from that of the northern branch of the Alps after
the bifurcation of that chain in Styria.

Thus then, this series of ranges, which run from NW. to
SE., form a separate and sharply-bounded mass, whose pccu-

230 Professor Hoffmann on the Geological Investigations

liar features are not accidental ; the Alps with the Jura, and
the Western Carpathians with their subordinate chains, form
another similar mass ; and it is these which Buch first of all
distinguished by the very appropriate name of Geognostical
Sgstems of a country. By the application of this geognostical
division to Germany (including Switzerland), Buch thought it
was necessary to distinguish four geognostical systems. Of
these we have already mentioned two : the north-eastern sys-
tem, and the system of the Alps. The two others are : the
Khine system, which includes the parallel chains of the Black
Forest, of the Spessart, of the Vosges, of the Hart, of the
Iiilly ranges of Lothringia, and of Swabia, and which has a
direction very nearly from S. to N. ; and the system of the
Netherlands, to which belongs the great mass of the slate-
rocks that are cut through by the Rhine between Bingen and
Bonn, and with it likewise the coal-formation basins of France,
Belgium, Aix-la-Chapelle, and on the Ruhr in Westphalia on
the north, and on the Nahe and Saar in the Palatinate on the
south. This system has nearly the same strike as the Alps,
viz. from SW. to NE., and it is very decidedly and abruptly
bounded on the INE. in Hesse and Waldeck. I believe that,
in order to complete the delineation of Germany, a fifth sys-
tem may be distinguished, which is evidently different from
those already noticed, but which exhibits also nearly the
strike of the systems of the Alps and Netherlands. Its prin-
cipal mass forms the ranges of the Erzgehirge, which run
from SW. to NE. ; the Bohemian Mittelgebirge, exactly paral-
lel to the last ; and finally, in the SW., the Fichielgebirge,
which descend rapidly to the valley of the Maine.

The knowledge of these remarkable systems, into which
all other accurately known countries may also be decom-
posed, is evidently an extremely important matter in form-
ing a judgment as to the alterations which the crust of
our earth has undergone ; and the first proposal of this
view is one of the most essential steps which have been
made in our science in recent times.* The first explana-
tion of this fact is entirely due to Leopold von Buch ;

♦ Lconhard's Tasc/ttfntMC^, 1824,p. 501j

and Writmgs of Baron von Buck. ^31

and the degree of perfection which the theory of the origin
of mountains has thus attained, will connect his name with
this part of geognosy in a manner which can never be
forgotten. For, although all the phenomena cannot by any
means be clearly explained, and although the cause cannot
yet be ascertained why, in a certain space of the surface of our
earth, the fissures follow exactly a determinate longitudinal
direction, and one differing from all the others in the neigh-
bourhood (which is also the case when there were several
principal fissures instead of one), yet the adoption of the ele-
vation of mountains on such fissures is already so abundantly
supported by facts, and the attempt to explain by other means
the parallel strike of mountain-chains leads to results so evi-
dently in contradiction to nature, that we may with certainty
assume, that the foundation thus furnished by Von Bucb, will
continue to become more and more established, and will never
be destroyed.

Becent labours. — We have thus glanced, but in the most
general way, at the series of services rendered by Leopold
von Buch to the advancement of our science, and these ex-
hibit the results of the most indefatigable and honourable zeal.
We ought, indeed, to be proud to reckon amongst those who
have devoted themselves to geology, a man who has displayed
such brilliant genius in enlarging the sphere of human know-
ledge. Even now, we find him uninterruptedly occupied with
pursuits tending to the extension and improvement of various
departments of our science. His unwearied activity has pro-
duced a geognostical map of the whole of Germany, which,
next to the map of England by Greenough, that resulted
from the labours of the Geological Society, affords by much
the most perfect geognostical representation that we possess
of so large a portion of the surface of the earth. This map,
which is in forty-two sheets, first appeared in the year 1824,
and was published by Simon Schropp of Berlin. Since then,
it has passed through several editions, and has undergone
numerous corrections, so that, as regards a large portion of
Germany, but little remains in this respect to be desired.

Leopold von Buch has lately occupied himself with organic
remains, and his investigations have been attended with the

232 Professor Connell on the

greatest success. The family of the Ammointes had previously
been but little studied, and he subjected them to a minute cri-
tical examination, unfolding their natural distinctions, elu-
cidating their relations to the various formations, and de-
ducing the most surprising results for geognosy. He next
took up the Brachiopodes, a family not less difficult, and
not less important in the history of the earth's crust. He
published a separate work on the subject, which is rich in
valuable conclusions regarding these remarkable and varied
remains of a former state of things. We might still have
brought forward a great deal as to what our j ustly celebrated
countryman has contributed on particular subjects ; but the
space allotted does not permit me to enter into detail upon his
extensive and important investigations.*

On the Chemical Constitution of Sillimanite. By Arthur Con-
nell, Esq., F.R.S.E., and Professor of Chemistry in the
University of St Andrews. Communicated by the Author.

This mineral occurs at Saybrook, in Connecticut, and was
described some years ago by Mr Bowen, who found it to con-
tain the following constituents :

Silica, 42.666

Alumina^ 54.111

Oxide of iron, 1.999

Water, 0.510

99.286

From the near coincidence of these proportions with Klap-
roth's analysis of Disthene or Kyanite, and from the resem-
blance of Sillimanite to that mineral in some of its crystallo-
graphic and other external characters, Mr Haidinger gave his
opinion, that the latter mineral was probably a variety of

Disthene. t

More lately Dr Thomson has published an analysis of Silli-
manite, by Mr Thomas Muir, one of his pupils,J which gives

* Iloffmann^s Hinterlasscne Werke. t Mineralogy, iii. 153.

X Edinburgh Transactions xi., 245, and Outlines of Mineralogy, i. 424.

Chemical Constitution of Sillimanite, 233

a different view of its constitution. It is stated to be com-
posed of

Silica, 38.670

Alumina, 35.106

Zirconia, 18.610

Peroxide of Iron, 7.216

99.602

As it was obviously a matter of interest to endeavour to as-
certain which of the preceding analyses was the correct one,
I several times attempted to procure specimens of Sillimanite
from mineral dealers in Edinburgh and London, but without
success, owing to the rarity of the mineral in this country. I
have since, however, been indebted to the kindness of Mr Rose,
mineral-dealer, Edinburgh, for a small quantity of the mineral,
from the above-mentioned locality. The crystals were, as usual,
four- sided prisms, embedded in quartz, and possessing the or-
dinary external characters of the mineral. Colour varying from
clove-brown to yellowish-white. Cleavage perfect in one di-
rection, and shewing high lustre. Crystals bent ; some of them
translucent, others more opaque ; brittle, and readily pul-
verized.

The quantity of the crystals which I was able to separate
from the matrix was considerably less than I could have wished
for the purpose of a regular analysis ; but the principal object
was to ascertain whether the mineral contained zirconia ; and
the quantity was quite sufficient to enable me to determine
whether it contained so large a proportion of that earth as
18.5 per cent.

3.02 grains of the pure crystals were reduced to fine pow-
der, and moderately ignited for a quarter of an hour in a pla-
tinum crucible over a spirit-lamp, with rather more than three
times their weight of carbonate of soda. When cold, some-
what less than twice their weight of pure caustic potash was
laid on the surface of the powder, so as not to be in contact
with the crucible. The whole was then slowly heated to red-
ness over the spirit-lamp ; and the crucible afterwards trans-
ferred to a charcoal fire, where it was strongly ignited for

23 i Professor Connell on the

half an hour. The semifused mass was then treated with
dilute muriatic acid, when the whole was dissolved except
a little light and flocky silica^ shewing, the complete decompo-
sition of the mineral. The crucible was 'not at all attacked.
The silica wa^ th^n sfeparflted ' in the lisual manner, and
weighed after ignition l!ll grain'.

Ammonia threw down a precipitate which, after ignition,
weighed 1.81 grain. This was digested in muriatic acid,
and in two hours was nearly all dissolved. Water being
added, some white flocky matter was collected, which, when
ignited, amounted to 0.06 of a grain, and examined by the
blowpipe acquired a blue tinge with nitrate of cobalt, and
was evidently a mixture of alumina and silica. The filtered solu-
tion was treated with excess of caustic potash, w^hen the whole
of the precipitate formed was redissolved except 0.03 of oxide
of iron. The potash solution boiled with sal ammoniac gave
an abundant precipitate, which was insoluble in carbonate of
amm.onia, and gave a blue colour with nitrate of cobalt, and
thus had all the properties of alumina. By subtracting the
oxide of iron, we thus have 1.78 of alumina ; the residue of
0.06 grain left undissolved by the muriatic acid being held as
alumina, although it contained a little silica. The liquid
which had been treated with ammonia, gave no precipitate
with oxalate of ammonia, or when boiled with carbonate of
soda.

It is thus evident that the mineral could have contained
no appreciable quantity of zirconia. If present, we should
expect it to have been left undissolved by the muriatic acid
after ignition of the ammoniacal precipitate ; and the solubi-
lity in potash of what had been taken up by the acid, was a
farther proof that this earth was not present. To make still
surer that none of it was mixed with the alumina, a portion
of the matter which had been held dissolved by the potash,
was dissolved in muriatic acid, and poured into an excess of
bicarbonate of potash, but no part of the substance was taken
up by the bicarbonate.

We have therefore in the 3.02 grains under analysis—

Chemical Constitution of SlUimanite* 235

Silica, .

. 1.11

86.75

Alumina, .

. 1.78

68.94

Oxide of iron, .

0.03

0.99

2.92 9G.G8

I had not sufficient material to ascertain wliether the loss
on the analysis was due to the presence of any alkali or
other substance ; but as the other analyses do not indicate any
other constituents than those which have been under our
view, except indeed a half per cent, of water, I believe the
loss to have been merely due to causes incidental to the em-
ployment of so little material.

On the whole, there seems every reason to regard Mr Hai-
dinger's view of the nature of the mineral to be correct. The
analysis of varieties of Disthene by Klaproth and Laugier do
not greatly differ from those of Mr Bowen and myself of Silli-
manite. They give,

Klap. Laug.

Silica, . . , 48.0 38.5

Alumina, . . . 55.5 55.5

Oxide of iron, . . 0.5 2.75

Lime, , . . ... 0.5

Water, . . . ... 0.75

99.0 98.00

I conceive, however, that the formula which will best express
the constitution of this species, including both Disthene and Sil-
limanite, when in a state of complete purity, is AL' S *
(A^ S ^), which Dr Thomson, founding on the analyses of Dis-
thene by Ardwedson, has suggested as the formula for that
mineral.* It gives,

Silica, 4 . . . . 37.47
Alumina, 02.52

99.90

One of Ardwedson's analyses gave exactly these propor-
tions, and the others did not deviate very considerably. On
this view, the mineral is a subsesquisilicate of alumina.

* Outlines i., 242.

( 236 )

Description of a Species of Skate new to the British Fauna,
By John Fleming, D.D., Professor of Natural Philosophy
in the University and King's College of Aberdeen. With
two Plates. Communicated by the Author.

Length of the body nine inches, and the tail is likewise nine
inches, so that the total length is eighteen inches. Length of
the head to opposite the anterior attached extremity of the
pectorals three inches and three-tenths, at which place the
breadth of the head is four inches. Breadth of the body across
the pectorals thirteen inches. Length of the anterior lateral
projections of the pectorals two inches, and their breadth at
the base one inch and eight-tenths.

The snout is somewhat pointed, with an angle at each side
opposite the nostrils, and another midway to the apex.

The pectorals are of a subtriangular form, projecting far-
thest at the middle. Posteriorly they are free and rounded,
while anteriorly the free triangular projections extend on each
side of the head to within about an inch of the snout. Towards
their extremities the pectorals are tinged of a reddish colour.

Ventrals divided into two lobes. The external or lateral
lobe narrow and subtriangular, the anterior edge even and
about an inch and a half in length, the posterior, or inner
edge, jagged or unequally denticulated. The inner lobe (or
true anals of some authors), with the free edge next the tail,
upwards of an inch, and having the margin of the fin rounded
posteriorly.

The front of the first dorsal is three inches and eight-tenths
from the extremity of the tail. It is about an inch and three-
tenths long, and one inch and eight-tenths high, sloping back-
wards anteriorly, and rounded posteriorly ; the anterior and
superior portion being fleshy and rough, while the posterior and
inferior portion is membranaceous and smooth. The front of
the second dorsal is one inch and nine-tenths from the extre-
mity of the tail. It is narrower than the first dorsal, of the
same structure, and having the posterior membranaceous por-
tion uniting with the narrow fin on the upper side of the ter-
mination of the tail.

Eves semicircular, with a lateral aspect, one inch and a half

0?i a Species of Skate neiv to the British Fauna, 237

apart, and situate two inches and seven-tenths from the extre-
mity of the snout. Iris yellowish, with a projection above.

The blowers are situate immediately behind the eyes, in-
clining outwardly, with their anterior margins as if denticu-
lated with white points. Nostrils two inches from the extre-
mity of the snout. The mouth two inches and seven-tenths
from the extremity of the snout, and armed with blunt teeth.
The branchial orifices are five on each side, in rows one inch
and three- tenths long.

The body is smooth below, with the exception of a little
roughness towards the base of the pectorals and sides of the
flattened tail. The whole of the upper surface is rough, with
small spinous tubercles pointing retrally. One large falcate
spine, with a smaller subsidiary one at the base, in front and
beliind each eye. A short blunt spine occurs on each side at
the shoulders or transverse cartilage. A single row of similar
spines, beginning a little behind the blowers, extends along
the back to the extremity of tail, where not interrupted by the
fins. The spines on the dorsal ridge are thick and blunt ;
those on the tail are more pointed and recurved, and unequal
in size. A row of similar spines, but of smaller size, occurs
on each side of the tail.

The head, in front of the eyes, is translucent and colour-
less, while the rest of the body has a dusky tinge, with nume-
rous small blackish spots, and upwards of a dozen of large cir-
cular whitish spots, especially towards the base of the pecto-
rals. There is a general translucency pervading the whole
body of the animal.

The specimen was a female, and caught in Aberdeen Bay
July 22. 1840.

From the above description it appears sufficiently evident
that this skate cannot be referred to any known British spe-
cies. The form of the snout, of the ventrals, and of the spines,
and the distribution of the latter on the back and tail, furnish
satisfactory distinguishing characters. But above all, the pe-
culiar anterior prolongation of the pectoral fins, their symme-
trical character precluding the notion of monstrosity, justify
the belief that it is a new European form, and entitled to be
regarded as the type of a new genus, which I propose to term

VOL. XXXI, NO. LXII. OCTOBER 1841 » Q

2S8 On a Species of Skate new to the British Fauna.

HiEROTPERA (/gg£us sacerdos and itTi^ov ala) ; and I further
propose to designate the present species by the trivial name of
Ahredonensis^ to mark the locality where it was first observed.
The newest of the modern genera to which it approaches (for
with the Rhinoptera of KuhljOr the CEPHALOPXERAof Dumeril,
it is far from being closely connected) is perhaps the Propte-
BYGiA of Professor Otto, the relationship to which immediately
suggested itself to that profound ichthyologist Professor Agas-
siz, when I shewed him the specimen, during the visit with
which he favoured me in October last (1840). It differs, how-
ever, from the Propterygia in the condition of the pectorals
anteriorly, and in the absence of those lateral processes or
finlets which occur on each side of the head, .opposite to the
eyes. In other respects the differences are considerable ; but
as this genus was instituted in 1821 by A. G. Otto, M.D., of
Breslau, in his " Conspectus Animalium quorundam Mariti-
morum nondum editorum,"* for the reception of a skate found
by him in the Frith of Forth in 1818 or 1819, it may be use-
ful to the students of British ichthyology to give his remarks
entire and exactly in his own terms. This is the more neces-
sary, as his announcement of this addition to our fauna has
hitherto escaped the notice of those who have been occupied
in enumerating the species of fishes found on our coast.

" Genus Propterygia mihi ; novum selachiorum genus.

" Raja ; altero pinnamm pectoralluixi pari ad latera capitis a corpore
distinct! et in rostrum subacuminatum desinentes ; spiracula quinque,t
Cauda brevis absque aculeo.

" Species. Propterygia hypostida milii ; corpore deprcsso^ glabro, in-
fra nigro-jjunctato ; aculeis ternis ad oculos ; caudaj unico aculeorum or-
dine et pinnis duabus superioribus^ una infcriore et ulteriore.

*' Habitat in Sinu Edinburgensi."— P. 6.

/ Fig. 1. Dorsal aspect of Hieroptera Abredonensis.

PlntP TV )^^&- 2- Ventral aspect,
i-iaie 1 V . < pjg^ 3^ jjy^ ^^^ ^ blower.

( Fig. 4. Moutb and nostrils.
Plate V i ^'^' ^' ^^^^^^ aspect of Propterygia hyposticta of Otto.

j Fig. G. Ventra aspect of do.
King's College, Feb. 27. 1841.

* I am indebted to my intelligent friend Dr Allen Thomson, Professor of
Anatomy in Marischal College, for an opportunity of consulting this treatise
of Professor Otto's.

t Cephaloptera genus proximum, eorum sex pi*ffibet. Comparentur Nova
actaphysico-medica Academiae Cocsarea) Leopoldino-Carolina) Naturaj Curio,
sorum, torn, x. p. i. p. Ill, tab, v, vi., ubi descriptionem et figuras dedi.

PLATE V. £dui^NcwFha.JourVoL3lp.238.

tlATF. jr. Edui ""A^eu' Fhil Jour. Vol. 31.p. 23 S.

Fi^.l.

,,»V-.^.t^;r*'.

H'*';*V »• ' '' ' '■'■■''■ "^vi''- V-; ■"-'■-•' FSb

Fig.i

E. M:-tJKtU . Se

•

( 239 )

On "the Animalcules of the Bed Snow, By Dr C. Vogt.

The researches of Mr Shuttleworth, published in the BibL
Univ. 1840,* on the colouring matter of red snow, shew that
the red-coloured snow of our Alps is not solely vegetable,
but that it contains a great number of animals. But the ob-
servations of this botanist, although very exact, have not
since been repeated a sufficient number of times, nor in a
sufficient number of localities, to view them otherwise than
the first steps towards facts, which throw a new light on the
study of the microscopic fauna. A number of details remain-
ed for further investigation ; and as M. Agassiz made a pro-
longed visit at the glacier of the Aar, we took with us Ehren-
berg's great work on Infusoria, and two microscopes, with a
view to study the red snow in a fresh state, and to compare
the same from different localities wherever it was to be met
with. The results we have obtained are by no means unim-
portant, as regards the new and curious forms that we have
discovered, and the observations we have made on their mode
of life, and the facts connected with the development and re-
production of these extraordinary beings, of which their pre-
sence in the midst of eternal snow is in some manner a dementi
given to the general ideas which are admitted on the conditions
of the existence of organic beings. The circumstance which
surprised us more than all, was the diversity of form exhibited
by individuals collected from various localities. It is probable
that each station possesses beings proper to it, associated with
a certain number of other types more generally distributed.

The red snow was found this year (August 1840) in great
abundance on the glaciers which descend in the valley of the
Aar. We also observed it at the extremity of the glacier of
Oberaar, on the glacier of Finsteraar, on the plains of snow
which border the west flank of Siedelhorn, and in numerous
points of the lower glacier of the Aar, between others near to
that of Abshwung, in the neighbourhood of the hotel of Neu-
chatelois, near the crystal grottos, on the lower glacier of
Grindelwald, &c. The following are the organisms which wc
met with in these situations : —

* Mr Shuttleworth's Memoir was also puWished in the 2QUi volume of
this Jouraul. — Edit.

210 Dr C. Vogt on the Animalcules of the Bed Snow.

1. The Infusoria called Astasia nivalis by Shuttle vvortli, see
the thu'd fig. in his plate.* It is easily distinguished by its
pyriform shape, and the rapidity of its movements. With the
exception of the very small white vesicles situate in the in-
terior of the body, which look like stomachs, Shuttlevvorth has
not given a description of the structure of the animalcule.
Numerous observations have satisfied me that it is enveloped
in a carapace which encases the whole, and is only open at
the anterior extremity. This opening is furnished with nu-
merous small cilia, serving both as organs of locomotion and
prehension. It is doubtless at this point that the m6uth is
situate, the position of which is indicated by an orange-coloured
tint, which is clearer than the rest of the animal. The pre-
sence of the carapace, together with the cilia, are characters
which do not allow this animal to be placed with Astasia as
Shuttleworth has done ; on the contrary, it ought to be placed
in the family Peridinia, which Ehrenberg thus characterises ;
Animal distinctly, or to all appearance polygastric^ without
intestinal canals having a carapace, rcith hairs or cilia scattered
over the body, or on the carapace, often in the form of a girdle
or crown, provided with a single aperture in the carapace, and

furnished with vibratile organs. It ought otherwise to be re-
garded as the type of a new genus, characterised by the ab-
sence of a groove in the carapace, and also that the stiff hairs
are replaced by soft cilia, which is not found in any other ge-
nus of the family.

2. The Gyges sanguineus of Shuttleworth, see his fig. 4.
I will add, to complete the description given to this animal
by the author, that I have frequently noticed, in those indivi-
duals in motion (Shuttleworth could only have seen dead indi-
viduals), the orange-coloured organs occupied the space be-
tween the carapace and the body, and which I believe to be
the retractile lips (levres). The animal moves slowly, although
directed in every case. But that which distinguishes it above
all, is its mode of reproduction ; it gives off from several parts
of its body small transparent buds, apparently vesicular, and
for the most part filled with a grenue substance. As they en-
large, they are detached more or less from the body of the

* This plato tho reader will find in Shuttleworth's Memoir in our 29th
volume. — JblDiT.

Dr C. Vogt on (he Animalcules of the Bed Snojv, 24X

animal ; sometimes two bodies of equal size, of which one is
red and carapaced, and the other quite colourless, adhere by
a very narrow point of attachment. By degrees this bud com-
pletely detaches itself from the parent body, and appears under
the form of a colourless infusory animal, such as Shuttleworth
has represented in his 7th and 8th fig., which approaches to Pan-
dori?ia hj/alina^'Ehv. I could not discover in these offsets anything
beyond that which Mr Shuttleworth has already seen ; they
are perfectly motionless; their contents, apparently ^reyj?«^, be-
come coloured by degrees from green to yellow, orange, and
even a deep red, whilst the covering remains colourless, and
is converted into a carapace. It is at this point only that the
motions of the animal become visible. I had the good for-
tune to observe, and to be able to make drawings of, the va-
rious grades of this mode of reproduction ; and I am convinced
that this animal, far from belonging to the genus Gyges^ on
the contrary, ought not only to be looked upon as the type of
a new genus, but, still further, to constitute a family, on ac-
count of its very peculiar mode of reproduction and develop-
ment.

3. I place in the genus Gyges of Ehrenberg another infuso-
ria, of an equally remarkable form, w4iich does not appear to
have been observed by Mr Shuttleworth. In the red snow
may be occasionally seen globular organisms, containing in
their interior from two to five individuals, enclosed in a cara-
pace apparently of a vitreous character. The colour of these
animals, thus living in the same case, is. of a dark red ; they
frequently adhere one to the other, and arrange themselves in
the form of a cross ; they are also frequently separate. The
small individuals, probably the young, were of a clear yellow
hue ; I could not observe the slightest motion in them.

4. An infusoria of the family of Bacillaria. It is very abun-
dant in the red snow, and is the smallest of all the kinds I
have met with. We frequently saw two of them adhering to-
gether, and ready to separate. Their colour is yellowish-
brown. With the exception of a few bright spots in their an-
terior, I could not distinguish their structure, neither could \
detect the slightest motion.

5. A species of Aretiscon^ having two hooks to the. feet.

242 Dr C. Vogt on the Animalcules of the Bed Snow,

This animal, known under the name of MacroMotus, has usu-
ally the intestine filled with several organisms met with in the
red snow, and is that which gives it a red hue, whilst its natu-
ral colour is a light brown.

6. The most interesting animal of the red snow is a Roti-
fer, a variety oi Philodina roseola, Ehr. We met with it abun-
dantly in the snow of the lower glacier of the Aar. Having
remarked that the ovary was of a much deeper colour than
the other parts of the body, I directed my attention especially
to this organ, and I was not long before I perceived eggs in
different periods of development. The young eggs were per-
fectly round, and of a deep red hue, absolutely similar to the
globules of Protococcus, described and figured by Shuttle-
worth, in his fig. 2. I also found eggs with a thin transparent
covering, furnished on all sides with small pointed projections.
After a time, others were also observed, of a larger size, but
similar in form to those figured by Ehrenberg, and ready to
be deposited. The great similarity of the immature eggs with
the globules of Protococcus figured by Shuttleworth, attracted
our attention, so much so, that at the moment the idea sug-
gested itself, that these globules were generated by the Phi-
lodina, and are to be found in the glandular appendages of the
intestines. To assure myself of this, I fed some Philodinas
with indigo, and by this I distinctly ascertained that the glo-
bules in question were situated exterior to the intestinal
canal. But as very many of these same globules were found
isolated in the snow, it became a matter of doubt whether
those were the eggs of Philodina, or really those of Protococ-
cus. I soon found the solutit)n of this problem by observing
one of the Philodinas in the act of voiding the eggs ; from
that time it was evident that these animals do not always de-
posit eggs fully formed, but that they give out occasionally
some not perfectly developed, and these are doubtless the glo-
bules which, up to the present time, having been considered
as those of Protococcus, are really animal organisms, the eggs
of Philodina. When they are of a rosaceous tinge, I look
upon them as winter-eggs, analogous to those of many of the
Rotiferae, which Ehrenberg has figured at their full develop-
ment. I afterwards met with these several forms of eggs to-

•••

§!••

Dr C. Vogt on the Animalctiks of the Bed Snow. 243

getlier with the Philodina, in the crevices of a polished rock
below the glacier of Rosenlain, in the vicinity of Guttannen,
and even on the borders of the lake of Neuchatel, where the
Fhilodina roseola with coloured eyes is very abundant.

After what has been stated, if
there really exists Protococcus in-
dependently of these eggs (which
does not appear to me likely, at
least in the red snow of the Alps),
it must prove that their identity
is such as to be mistaken the one
for the other. Future researches
may probably elucidate their dis-
tinguishing characters ; for M. Joli,
in his work on the salt-water
ditches of the south of France, re-
gards equally as Infusoria those
microscopic bodies which Turpin
determined as belonging to the
genus Protococcus.

In the accompanying figure, 1,
the Philodina rosea* oi the red snow, with the different forms
of its eggs, is seen magnified 360 diameters. The animal is
seen from above, the body extended as in the ordinary act of
progression on the bottom or side of the vessel in which it is
kept. The three principal regions of the body are very dis-
tinct : 1. The head and neck, with the different organs of
sense, and the commencement of the digestive system ; 2. The
trunk, which is nearly cylindrical, and is enveloped in a fur-
rowed cutaneous carapace ; 3. The articulated feet.

The anterior extremity, with its cilia, is expanded as in the
act of touching ; the rotatory organs are contracted : a little
posterior to these may be seen in the median line the respi-
ratory tube, which is equally contracted ; when spread out it
is much longer, and is furnished at its extremity with stiff
cilia. Behind this tube the eyes are met with, which are

* The animal is here represented only one-half the size as in the original
plate,— the eggs are the full size.

244 Dr C. Vogt on the Animalcules of the Bed Snow*

obliquely placed ; they are colourless in the variety from the
Alps, whilst they are red or yellow in the common variety.
Next comes the pharynx, with its two teeth, from whence the
intestinal canal proceeds, which, in the figure given by Dr
Vogt, is of a blue colour, the animal having been fed on in-
digo. The intestinal appendages are distinguished from the
ovary by their intense red colour. The foot, capable of ex-
pansion and contraction, is also seen. It is composed of seven
rings ; the fifth and sixth are armed with two points, the
seventh is furnished with two claws, very much analogous to
the posterior feet of the Chenilles. On either side of the body
may be seen, in four diff'erent places, the organs which Ehren-
berg described as vibratile branchiae, but which, in reality, are
nothing more than enlargements of two lateral vessels given
off from the respiratory tube and furnished with cilia. Simi-
lar vibratile enlargements are seen at the union of the neck
with the body, in two situations in the middle of the body, and
one at the side of the anus. The head and neck, as well as
the feet, may be withdrawn into the coriaceous carapace of the
body, which is susceptible of considerable dilatation and con-
traction. Fig. 2 represents those imperfectly developed eggs
which have been mistaken for Protococcus. Fig. 4 shews the
form of the winter-eggs not developed, with the covering in
the form of a rosette ; both the one and the other are met
with in red snow. Fig. 3 represents an accumulation of the
ordinary eggs of Philodina, collected from the crevices of the
polished surface below the glacier of Rosenlain ; the number
is by no means limited.

The red snow of the upper glacier of the Aar and that of
Siedelhorn furnished us with Philodinas and eggs of different
forms, similar to Protococcus. The lower glacier, and that of
Finsteraar, presented us with all the organisms noticed in this
communication. *

* The above addition to the Natural History of Red Snow we had marked
in last July for insertion in the present Number of our Journal ; we there-
fore gladly avail ourselves of the translation of it from the May number of
the Bibl. Univ. de Geneve, in *' The Microscopic Journal,^* a periodical
which we trust will ere long take a prominent place in our scientific litera-
ture.—Edit.

( 245 )

On the Action of JFaves at great Depths. By M. Siau,
Civil Engineer.*

The observations, of which we are about to give an account, were made
on a bottom of madreporic white sand, and basaltic black sand: they took
place while studying a plan for establishing a harbour at St Gilles, where
there is a natural passage pierced in the coral bank which prevails along
the coast.

When the sea is sufficiently calm to enable us to see the gravelly sand
in the bottom of the passage, we notice that it forms in it parallel undula-
tions, the transverse section of which increases according to the state of
the sea which produces them. We have estimated the distance between
two hollows or two consecutive summits of the undulations, when a
proper view could be obtained of them, at from 30 to 50 centimetres ;
and the depth of the hollow below the summit was found to be about
from 10 to 16 centimetres.

In the hollow of tlie undulation the heaviest substances are accumu-
lated, such as coarse sand, gravel, and small pebbles ; on the summit we
see only the finest sand.

When the undulation is.forraed of substances of the same size and of dif-
ferent specific gravities, such as basaltic and calcareous sands, it is observed
that the heaviest matters are in the hollow, and the lightest at the summit.

The undulations arc the effect of the action of waves, and admit of an
easy explanation. Wlien the water is limpid, so that we can see the bot-
tom, the waters exercise little action upon it, but when they were much
agitated, all substances were put in motion by them. In proportion as
the wave diminishes, its action is lessened, until the moment arrives when
it cannot set the heavier substances in motion. Then a selection or kind
of parting takes place; the lighter substances, being separated, have conti-
nued to advance by undulations, as is always the case, the wave acting on
the bottom of the hollows in order to carry them to the summit, and leav-
ing the weightiest bodies uncovered.

Advancing into the passage towards the entrance, it is remarked that
the undulations always preserve the same parallelism, and that their section
more and more diminishes. The same thing appears in the open sea ;
there the undulations are parallel to each other, and very nearly parallel
to those' of the passage. We always distinguish these alternate zones of
heavier and lighter substances ; they can easily be distinguished when
the sea is calm and clear at a depth of at least 20 metres.

If we advance into the open sea and take soundings, having the base of
the lead well covered with tallow, we will perceive, on hauling in the line,
that the zones of which we have spoken are impressed upon the tallow.
Sometimes a uniform zone of heavy substances will be brought up, and
then the adhesive matter at the end of the lead will have assumed a con-
vex form ; sometimes a zone of lighter substances will be obtained, and

* Vide page 63 of this voluiuo of Journal for Trofcssor G, Forchammer's Obser-
vations on Lund-Furrows and Water-Furrows, or ripple-marksi— Edit.

246 M. Siau on the Action of Waves at great Depths,

in that case tlie tallow will be of a concave shape. Finally, at great
depths^ two zones of substances may be brought up at once, of different
specific gravity, and in that case it will be observed that the heaviest cover
a protuberance, and the lighter a depression in the tallow.

Such are the considerations which have led us to believe that, in these
latitudes, the agitation of the sea is felt at a greater depth than it has
been proved to extend to by other observers.

We regret that we had neither the means nor the time to carry our re-
searches to the length we desired, the nature of the bottoms on which we
operated often affording facilities for observations of this nature by the
intermixture of the substances, of very different specific gravity and co-
lours, of which they were formed.

The deepest sounding rigorously determined, is that of 188 metres
(578 feet) obtained on the north-west of St Paul's Roads, on a bottom of
sand and basaltic gravel, and there the existence of zones has been recog-
nised in the most obvious manner.

We have made soundings to a much greater depth ; and, although they
seemed to us to hold out the highest probability of affording analogous
results, we do not, in the mean time, refer to them more particularly be-
cause they have not been repeated.

M. E. De Beaumont made the following remarks on M. Siau's obser-
vations—

The result to which M. Siau has come, in attempting to trace to their
last limit in regard to depth, the indication of the agitation of waves be-
comes of greater interest when we compare it with the ascertained facts,
relatively to the greatest depths in the sea at which we find animals
fixed, and consequently obliged to wait for their nourishment approach-
ing them. It would appear that the two limits come very near each
other, and do not, in general, much exceed the depth of 200 metres.

M. de la Beche has printed at the end of his Researches in Theoretical
Geology J a table drawn up by M. Broderip, in which the upper and lower
limits between which a great number of shells are found in the sea are
noted. It would appear from this table, that the shells which can endure
the greatest depths are the terebratulse, which have been found adhering
to rocks at a depth of 90 fathoms.

From the researches of MM. Quoy and Gaymard, Ehrenberg, Darwin,
and many other modern voyagers, it would seem that the greater part of
the fixed polypiers live only at small depths. The coral on the coast of
Algiers is perhaps the species of adherent polypiers whose existence at
the most considerable depths has been ascertained. M. Milne Edwards
has sometimes dredged coral near Bonne, from the depth of 531.4 feet,
(1G2 metres) ; but the coral-divers do not think that it exists below 800 feet,
or 244 metres.

A madrepore is mentioned, obtained by Ellis in the Greenland seas,
from a depth of about 1377 feet, or 420 metres, but it was an unattached
madrepore with a corneous support.*

* From the Comptes Rendus dcs Sceaaccs dc TAcademie dcs Sciences, t. xii. p. 774,

( 247 )

Beport on the Collections and Geological Observations made
in 1838 and 1839, during the French Northern Nautical and
Scientific Expedition. By M. Eugene Robert, one of the
Members of the Expedition.

In order that it may be in a condition to give the opinion that has been
asked of it by the Minister of Marine and of the Colonies, the Academy
has requested us (the Commissioners) to present an account of the results
of every kind, which have been obtained by the Nautical and Scientific
Expedition of the North, during their proceedings in 1838 and 1839.
Your Commissioners have naturally divided a task of such considerable
labour. On the present occasion we mean to speak of the geological
results of the Expedition, for which we are indebted to M. Eugene Ro-
bert, Member of the Geological Society of France, and to M. Durocher,
a distinguished pupil of the Royal Corps dcs Mines, who joined the Scien-
tific Commission in its Expedition of 1839. In the present report we
shall give an account only of M. Robert's labours; those of M. Durocher
are altogether independent of his ; and we will submit a notice of them to
the Academy, as soon as the last collections made by this traveller shall
have arrived in Paris.

When the Academy of Sciences, in 1838, was called upon to supply
instructions for the Northern Nautical and Scientific Expedition, it had
already completed three campaigns, each of them lasting for a year.
Thus the expedition has in reality existed for five years. During that
period its object has been successively modified and extended.

In 1835, the corvette La Recherche, then commanded by Captain Tre-
houart, and having on board a scientific commission, consisting of a few
individuals, left tliis country, principally with the design of renewing the
attempts made, on the preceding year, by Captain Dutaillis, in the brig
La Bordelaise, to discover, if possible, some traces of the lamentable
shipwreck of the Lilloise, commanded by the gallant Captain Blosseville,
which was entirely lost among the ice of the north pole. This expedi-
tion of 1835 led to few important results. The continuity and extent of
the fields of ice prevented it arriving at Greenland, and the naturalists,
being landed on Iceland, could only commence their labours.

In 1836, the corvette La Recherche penetrated as far as Greenland,
where officers of the royal navy made various observations and collected
numerous and highly valuable series of rocks. During this time the mem-
bers of the scientific commission, and particularly M. Robert, who had
always been a member from its commencement, completed the examina-
tion of Iceland when they had been landed.

The publication of the results of these two expeditions having been im-
mediately ordered by the Minister of Marine, the members of the scien-
tific commission were authorized to employ the expedition of 1837 in

248 Beport on the Geological Observations made during the

Denmcark, Norway, and Sweden, for the purpose of collecting all the do-
cuments fitted to complete the elements of their relation. During this
undertaking the Recherche did not navigate the northern seas.

It is not our purpose, at present, to consider the undertakings just men-
tioned ; however, as they arc partly connected with those of which your
commissioners have to give an account, we may state that the history of
the expeditions of 1885, 1836, and 1837, will consist of six volumes, with
a large and small atlas. A considerable portion has already appeared.
In as far as it concerns M. Robert, we may remark that the geology of
itself occupies a volume of the work; and that the collection of rocks
and minerals made by this traveller during this first period of the expe-
dition, and which is deposited in the museum, consists of nearly 3800
specimens, the greater part of high interest.

The expeditions of 1838 and 1839 have been directed to other northern
countries than those formerly visited ; the number of the members of the
scientific commission connected with the nautical researches has been
greatly increased, and many Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish serrants
have been attached to it by their respective governments. The superinten-
dency of this commission continues to be intrusted to M, Gaymard, as
it was on all former occasions.

In 1838, the Recherche, then commanded by Captain Fabre, after hav-
ing anchoroid in the Gulf of Drontheim, on the western const of Norway,
and in Han^merfest lloads, near the extremity of Lapland, sailed to the
77th degree of latitude, remaining for a time in the Gulf of Bell-Sund, on
the south-west coast of Spitzbcrgen. Trom thence she returned to ex-
plore the North Cape, and the coasts of Finmark. She returned to France,
after leaving the members of the scientific commission at Hammeifest, a
epot situate more than 4° beyond the polar circle, and in the neighbour-
hood of which part of the members passed the winter. The others, among
whom was M. Robert, explored Lapland, crossing the country in the di-
rection of Tornca. M. Robert then travelled as far as Stockholm, through
that part of Sweden which he had not seen the preceding year.

In 1839, the Recherche anchored eight days at the Faroe Islands, and
touched at Hamraerfest, as well as at the North Cape. Having taken
again on board the greater part of the members of the scientific commis-
sion, she repaired to the small island of Cherry, on her way, for the se-
cond time, to Spitzbergcn. When there, the corvette went as high as
80° of latitude, and remained there for fifteen days, in the Bay of Made-
lain e, which is situate on the western coast. She then returned.to France,
after having left a portion of the members of the commission at Hammer-
fest. These latter traversed Lapland, and some of them extended their
observations as far as Moscow ; then, after remaining a while in Poland,
Bohemia, and dilTercnt parts of Germany, returned to Paris, not earlier
than the middle of 1880. The geological observations of the whole of
this itinerary of 1839 belong to M. Durochcr, M. Robert having been se-
parated from the commission throughout this journey. He first went by
land from Stockholm to Archangel, with the view of finding an opportunity

Northern Nautical and Scientific Expedition in 1838-39. 249

in the latter place of embarking for Nova Zembla ; but no fishing-boat
having attempted that dangerous navigation in 1839, M. Robert's devot-
edness and expectations were disappointed. All, however, was not lost.
On the preceding year, a small vessel had been hired by some individuals
to go in search of a pretended gold mine, which some fishermen had de-
clared to exist in that desert and icy land. The expedition had brought
back a very useless cargo of pyriteous rocks, of considerably varied cha-
racter. M. Robert was permitted to make a selection from these rocks,
which are extremely remarkable. This traveller, then, after various re-
searches on the shores of the White Sea, reascended the Dwina, and de-
scended the Volga, as far as the government of Cazan. From thence he
traversed the whole of Russia to the Baltic.

The materials relative to M. Robert's labours, which your commission-
ers have had to examine, arc, 'ist, a collection of more than 16G0 speci-
mens belonging to a great number of species or principal varieties of
rocks, the collection which is deposited in the Museum, and which, when
united to those of the former expeditions, gives a total of more than 5300
specimens ; 2d, a catalogue raisonne of this collection, in which the loca-
lities and formations are indicated; 3</, eighty-eight drawings or sketches
representing the appearance of the coasts, mountains, glaciers, floating
ice, and geological sections ; 4,th, a printed notice respecting the glaciers
of Spitzbcrgen ;* 6th, a manuscript memoir of forty-nine quarto pages,
in which M. Robert has given a synopsis of the results of his investiga-
tions in 1838 ; Gth, a printed mcmoir,t in which this traveller has made
known to the public the principal results of his expedition in 1839.

It would be impossible for us to follow M. Robert in detail through
the multitude of observations, however interesting these might be, which
he has inserted in his Catalogue and Memoirs, or which arise from the ex-
amination of his drawings and specimens of rocks. We shall content
ourselves by taking for our guide the itinerary of his two expeditions,
and pointing out the most striking facts.

The shores of the Gulf of Drontheim enabled M. Robert to ascer-
tain that all this portion of the western coast of Norway belongs exclu-
sively to gneiss-formations, and a taleose and protogenic system, which
forms the celebrated copper-mines wrought at Roraas. At many points
of the coast, and even to a height of upwards of 328 feet (100 metres) above
the level of the sea, these primordial formations present surfaces furrowed
longitudinally, smoothed and polished, like those on which the waves of
the ocean are now exercising their effects. Above this height, the ground
exhibits broken, angular, and sometimes narrow forms, shooting upwards,
which arc owing to the constitution and inclination of the strata. At the
isle of Lexen, the marine pebbles cover the most elevated rounded ridges,
and prove, by their presence, the origin of this singular configuration, and
the rise of this part of Norway after the commencement of the geolo-
gical period in which we live.

♦ Bulletin de la Societ6 Geologique, torn. ix. p. 114. t Ibid. torn. x\. p. 298.

250 Beport on the Geological Observations made during the

In Spitzbcrg-en, the gcognostic constitution of the country does not
clearly shew any portion of the primordial crust or exterior coating", al-
though it is likewise, as in Norway, very hilly and irregular. But what
is remarkable, it presents us with six distinct kinds of secondary forma-
tions, some of them belonging to the most ancient geological periods, and
others to the most recent.

1*^, Deposits of very talcose slates, containing layers of greater or
less thickness of grey quartzy sandstone, often shining, with calcarifer-
ous anagenetes and phylladiferous limestones, without any vestige of
fossils, but intersected by veins of quartz. 2c?, Deposits of selagite, or
hypersthene rock, not stratified, forming of itself mountains, which are
inclosed in the centre of the preceding system. Sdf, Deposits of anthraxi-
ferous limestone, enclosing old marine fossils, such as productus and
spirifer. Nodules of flint arc also found in them. We may likewise
presume that, at certain points, this system contains gypsum, a circum-
stance which will be altogether new. 4^^, Deposits of grey quartzose
sandstone with anthracite, inclosing, with the layers of this combustible
mineral in a friable state, nodules of compact carbonate of iron, and a few
fossil plants analogous to those in the coal-beds of our temperate latitudes.
It is to be remarked, that no impressions of ferns have been found here.
blh, Deposits of friable quartz-sandstone, stratified horizontally, and over-
lying the disturbed systems which precede, and in which are fragments
of pitchy lignite containing grains of amber. 6^/i, Lastly, a formation of
marine alluvium, placed above the sea, at heights extending to 131.2 feet
(40 metres), and which is composed of pebbles, gravel, or broken shells,
absolutely identical with the deposits daily forming by the waves along
the whole bay.

From this summary statement, we easily perceive what important geo-
logical consequences are derived from M. Robert's observations in Spitz -
bergen. We ascertain, for example, that this extremity of the globe, so
near the pole, has been subjected at many epochs, and particularly at the
most ancient epochs, to the same secondary deposits, and the same causes
of dislocation, as the equatorial or temperate regions.

On returning from Spitzbcrgen, the examination of the North Cape,
and of the coasts of Finmark as far as Hammerfest, as vv^ell as the whole
of the Gulf of Alton, has furnished the results which we shall now pro-
ceed to point out.

Every one is aware that the North Cape is not situated on the con-
tinent, but on the small island of Mageroe, which is separated from
the continent by a very narrow strait or sound called Mageroe Sound.
Tlic strait, island, and cape, have been completely examined. Their
hilly and very irregular surface is every where composed of gneiss-for-
mations, perfectly characterized, containing layers or beds, one above
another, of pegmatite, leptinite, zoned petrosilex, diorite or amphibolite,
all intersected, at different points, by veins of quartz, or sometimes by
pegmatites mingled with tourmaliner M, Robert has in vain sought in

Northern Nautical and Scientific Expedition in 1838-39. 251

thb system for the selagites or liypcrsthene rocks, which have been said
to occur in this part of Finmark. lie found no traces of them even
among the pebbles on the present shores of the sea, wliich are composed
of numerous debris of gneiss-deposits, associated with syenite, shining
quartzy grey sandstone, Lydian-stone, and even volcanic scoriae. The
presence of these fragments is probably owing to diverse accidental
causes.

The summits around Mageroe Sound rise to upwards of 328 feet
above the sea. The North Cape abruptly overlooks the Polar Ocean
at an elevation of nearly 1082 feet. Sixteen drawings or sketches repre-
sent the appearance of all these mountain?, of dislocations in the gneiss-
formations, and the inclination of the strata. We have likewise repre-
sentations of many ancient sea-beaches, whose elevation above the pre-
sent surface of the sea frequently extends to IG or 24 metres. These ancient
beaches are easily known by their perfectly rounded forms, their abraded
and as it were polished surfaces, and the mass of broken shells, pebbles,
and sea-sand, which cover them at certain places.

At the island of Rolfso-Ham, which is situate between North Cape
and I^mmerfest, the phenomenon of the progressive rising of Finmark
is indicated, in a still more positive manner, by a great alluvial deposit,
which rises with a gentle slope to a height of more than 108.7 feet, and
shewing seven stages or terraces faintly marked, formed of marine peb-
bles, placed one behind another, and separated by a turfy soil. The
whole of this system rests upon a thick layer of the debris of shells, among
which we perceive fragments of Cyprina Jslandica, and other molluscs,
identical with those now living in the Polar Ocean. The fundamental
formation of the island belongs to the gneiss series.

It is the same with the island of Qualoe, where M. Robert has besides
established this singular fact, namely, that in a depression situate behind
the gate of the town of Hammerfcst, and at a height of about 82 feet above
the sea, there exists an assemblage of rounded blocks of the primitive
rocks of the country, the interstices of which are filled with small pieces
of blackish pumice-stone, similar to those which continue to be thrown
ashore from time to time even in the present day on the coasts of Norway
along with floating wood, and whose origin is evidently to be ascribed
to the volcanic eruptions of Iceland or of that of Jean Mayen.

On traversing Lapland from Altengaard to Tornea, that is to say, an
extent of more than a hundred leagues, M. Robert found nothing but a
surface uniformly composed of gneiss, with some layers or ^subordinate
veins of harmophanite, amphibolite, or diorite ; these subordinate rocks
often enclosed oxidulated magnetic iron. These formations, not very
prominently developed, are covered here and there with erratic blocks,
sand, and diluvian gravels, from which are daily separated, by the running
waters, an iron sand.

The gneiss-formations composing the western sides of the Gulf of Both-
nia, presented nothing to M, Robert particularly deserving of attention ;

252 IReport on the Geological Observations made in 1838-39.

but at Soderliamm, fifty leagues to the north of Stockholm, he observed,
at a height of about 42G feet above the Baltic, and on the surface of a
small mountain which appeared to him to have evidently been washed
by the sea, a detritus of shells of the genus Mytilus, among which he
recognised the valves of Tellina Baltica, a mollusc very common in
the present waters of the gulf. This observation agreeing with data of
the same kind collected during the expedition, especially observations
made in the Gulf of Christlania, has aflbrdcd a subject for a disserta-
tion found among M. Robert's manuscript memoirs. The author hav-
ing observed the strice or scratches, furrows, or grooves, which many
geologists, especially M. Sefstrom, and long before him MM. Las-
teyrie and Alexander Brongniart, have noticed on the surface of the
rocks of Scandinavia near collections of erratic blocks, and which these
observers have considered as unquestionable marks of the violent trans-
portation of these blocks in a direction from north to south. M. Robert,
we say, has remarked, 1st, that the grooves in question follow the direction
of the strata, and this direction is almost invariable;} 2d, that there is a re-
lation between these grooves and the facility which certain lamina possess
spontaneously to undergo alteration more than the neighbouring .lamina,
and that the coincidence is purely fortuitous between the direction of the
inclined beds which compose the ground, and the elongated form of the
collection of erratic blocks. In a word, M. Robert is of opinion that these
blocks are the result, not of a great diluvlan cataclysm, but of an action
alternately backwards and forwards, produced by the currents and waves
of a sea which covered, at a very remote period, all the low lying portions
of the Scandinavian countries. He likewise thinks that the blocks of
large dimensions must then have been transported on floating masses of
ice annually detached from the continents, as he saw take place at Spltz-
bergen. Finally, he considers that the kind of belt of marine alluvium
which appears on so many elevated parts of the coasts of Norway, Lap-
land, and Sweden, as the last limits of the effects of the sea, before the
slow, emerging, and successive elevation of this part of Europe, had pro-
duced an apparent sinking of the level of the ocean.

The reporter has not thought it necessary to enter into the discussion
of these explanations ; he has satisfied himself with stating them.

Passing on to M. Robert's observations In reference to Russia, M. Cor-
dler announces, that the collection illustrative of these observations con-
tains a great number of varieties of rocks which were unknown to us,
and the existence of which might have appeared questionable, if they had
not been actually produced for examination ; such are the old splrlferous
or productus limestones, white, tender, and friable, like common chalk,
or rather arenaceous, and resembling the coarse limestone of the neigh-
bourhood of Paris ; such, too, are the vesicular quartzes, analogous to our
mill-stones, but which nevertheless belong to the old limestone-system ;
Such, finally, are the magnesian limestones dependent on the same sys-
tem, and which are cavernous and friable, like the dolomites of the party-

M. Bolitlink on the Moun fains in Scandinavia. 253

coloured marls of the Jura. The greater degree of interest attaches to
Uiese singular rocks, from their forming the basis of the country in almost all
the parts of Russia visited by M. Robert. The certainty of their exist-
ence will contribute to put geologists more and more on their guard against
the notion which ascribed to the rocks forming the secondary envelope
of the globe, a greater degree of hardness, and a more compact and mas-
sive structure, in proportion as they happen to be more ancient.

The rocks of Nova Zembla, which M. Robert procured at Archangel,
shew us that the south-west coast of this polar land contains deposits of
blackish clay-slates and limestones with orthoceratites andgoniatites, which
is assuredly very remarkable.

Finally, the drawings and specimens which he likewise obtained at
Archangel, establish the important fact, that the argillaceous and marly
deposits of the medium oolitic stage extend from the interior of European
Russia, namely, on one side in Russian Lapland, and on the other to the
embouchure of the Pechora, near the strait of Vaigatch.*

Notice of the Principal Traces left hy the last great Bevolution
which took place in the Mountainous Countries of Scandi-
navia, By M. W. Bohtlink.

In the mountainous parts of Scandinavia, in Norway, Sweden, Fin-
land, and Lapland, we find in all the districts hitherto examined, without
exception (provided only that the rock be sufficiently compact to resist at-
mospheric influences), rocks which on one side are abraded or smoothed,
often even polished to such a degree as to reflect the rays of the sun,
also striated or scratched, and furrowed or grooved. The side, against
which the bodies causing the friction have been pressed, has been named
by M. Sefstrom the opposing or polished side {^Stos seite) ; he has named
the opposite one the sheltered side or lee-side (Lee seite). f

We generally find that the polished or opposing side ( Stos seite) of the rocka
is turned towards the principal plateaux of these countries. It is from theso
plateaux that the impelling power seems to have originated which deter-
mined the direction of the bodies which scooped ou£ the grooves.|

Insulated hills, even when they exceed an elevation of 1000 feet above
the plain, produce in the direction of the furrows a lateral deviation alto-
gether local, similar to that occasioned by small rocks a few feet ia
height. On the summits of these insulated hills the furrows grooved pre-
SCTit the general normal direction.

The large valleys have exercised a marked influence on the direction

♦ From the Institut, No. 384, 8th May 1841, p. 149.

t Sir James Hall, one of the earliest observers of these appearances,
names the polished side a-ag, the lee-side tail. — Edit.

I In explanation of the terms used in this and the preceding articles, th«
following may be noted ; moving sand polishes the surface, coarsegrayel scrathes
and furrows, and large stones scoop out grooves in it.— Edit.

VOL. XXXI. NO. LXII.— OCTOBEIl 1841. E

254 M. Bohtlink on the Mountai7is in Scandinavia.

of the furrows. It is to this influence that we must ascribe the devia-
tions which the furrows present in the south of Sweden, towards the At-
lantic Ocean, and the striking manner in which their direction turns to
the north on the eastern side of Lapland towards the Icy Ocean. Small
valleys, when they are narrow and bordered with high walls of rock, as
happens so often in Norway, determine the direction of the furrows,
which follow the longitudinal axis of the valley ; but on the heights which
bound these narrow valleys the normal direction is again observed, some-
times forming an angle of more than 60^ with that of the valley.

When a covering of sand or earth protects the rocks against the action
of the atmosphere, they likewise appear as much polished and furrowed to
a height of more than 8000 feet, as when their base is still washed by the
sea ; and even below the level of the sea, as far as the eye can penetrate
through clear and calm water, the friction of the rocks is equally distinct.

The polished and farrowed rocks of gneiss and granite, although be-
longing to the hardest crystalline rocks, cannot afford us an estimate of
the immense destructive force of the natural phenomenon which has ope-
rated upon them, because they do not shew us the magnitude of the parts
which have been carried away. But the perfectly horizontal strata of the
transition-formation, divided into insulated masses covered with sheets
of trap, which form the table-shaped mountains of Huneberg, Halleberg,
Billengen, and KiunckuUe, to the south-east of lake Wener, among which
the Kiunekulle rises to more than 700 feet above the plain, shew us, by
-iie correspondence of the strata composing them, that these masses must
have at first formed a continuous whole, and covered the entire country
vvithout interruption. In fact, we find only gneiss with polished surfaces
m the broad valleys which separate these hills from each other.
■ On the sheltered extremity or lee-side {Lee seite) of these hills, and
principally of Huneberg and Halleberg, we observe a kind of tail formed
of detached blocks torn from the transition and trap rocks ; but on the
polished side {Stos seite), on the contrary, we find no block having a si-
milar origin.

In order to explain the violent currents which have been capable not
only of pushing along huge blocks of rock, on rocks m situ, and producing
the grooved appearances in the latter, but still further of carrying away
completely to great extents masses of the softer silurian rocks, I am of
opinion that we must admit of there having taken place a sudden eleva-
tion of all the mountainous parts of Scandinavia.

This elevation may have begun under a considerable depth of se^-
water. We are led to make this supposition, in the first place, to ob-
tain in the mass of water a sufficient pressure to drive before it blocks
of rock over considerable inequalities of surface ; and, moreover, because
in Scandinavia, Finland, Lapland, and the surrounding countries, we
find, to the height of 800 feet, the most unquestionable marks of the con-
stant retreat of the sea, occasioned by a continual rise of the land. In
consequence of this circumstance, Scandinavia, duringthefirsthalf of the
alluvial period, was still an island ; and the tongues of land of Kussian

Prof. MacGillivray on Vespertilio Daubentoniu 255

Lapland, Finland, Estonia, the government of Olonetz, as well as those
parts of the government of Archangel situate to the south and east of the
White Sea, were still covered by the waters of the sea, above which the
only part that was elevated, like an island, was the highest portion of
Russian Lapland. At this period the floating ice of the Scandinavian
chain and of Lapland may have come, without being exposed to any se-
vere concussion, into the plains of northern Germany and central Rus-
sia, leaving erratic blocks as traces of their voyages, as happens every
spring with the ice of the largest lakes of Finland.

With regard to the southern limit at which the erratic blocks of the
north have been dispersed in the interior of Russia, science will receive
important information from a series of recent expeditions undertaken by
M. le Baron dc MeycndorfF; at least I infer thus much from the obliging
communications with which he has favoured mc.*

Descnption ofVespertilio Daubentonii,ffom Specimens foundin
Aberdeenshire. By WilliamMacGillivray, A.M., M.W.S.,
&c., Professor of Natural Plistory in the Marisclial College
University of Aberdeen. Communicated by the Author.

Among the first fruits of my labours in the hitherto little-
explored district in which it has pleased Providence to assign
me a location, has been the discovery of a species of Bat, which
one could scarcely have expected to find so far north in Scot-
land. Even in the southern districts of that country I have
never met with any other species of Cheiroptera than Vesper-
tilio Pipistrellus and Plecotus auritus, both of which also occur
in Aberdeenshire. Such, then, being the paucity of species
belonging to this family among us, any addition to the number
known must prove interesting to zoologists in all parts of the
kingdom; and as VSspertilio Daubentonii has not been often
or very accurately described from native specimens, I have
pleasure in supplying a minute description, taken from an
adult male, a female, and a young individual, obtained in the
churchyard and in one of the steeples of the Cathedral of Old
Machar, a venerable granitic edifice in the immediate neigh-
bourhood of my place of residence.

* Vide on this subject the remarks of Mr Murchison, at pages 135, 136^
137, and 138 of this volume of Phil. Journal.— Edit.

25G Prof. MacGilUvray on Vesper tilio Dauhentonii.

Male. — Head rather small, ovate, convex above, with the
muzzle moderate, or rather short ; the space anterior to the
eye tumid with sebaceous glands ; the face hairy, but the space
about the eyes nearly bare. The snout of moderate breadth,
bare, dusky, at the tip a little emarginate or repand, and a
twelfth and a quarter of an inch in breadth. Nostrils lateral,
tumid, transversely oblong, with a protuberance from the upper
edge. Mouth opening to beneath the eyes. Owing to the
partially bared space in which they are situate, rather than to
their size, the eyes are somewhat conspicuous, globular, black ;
the eyelids with an elliptical aperture, the upper ciliated, but
not on the margin ; and at its anterior part a small prominence
bearing a tuft of long hairs.

The ears about one-third shorter than the head if measured
direct from the base of the tragus, or about the same length
if measured alongthe outer margin, ovate, somewhat triangular,
directed outwards and forwards, obtuse ; the inner margin com-
mencing a little above the eye, and convex ; the outer with a
deep sinus in its upper half, and four transverse ridges, but
in its lower half convex, forming a rounded lobe, and at the
base having a small rounded opercular lobe, externally hair3%
Tragus rather inconspicuous, half the length of the ear, linear-
oblong, slightly curved inwards, tapering towards the end, which
is narrow, but not acute, being rather obtusely pointed. It
has a small angular process or lobelet at the base externally*

The neck short ; the body broad anteriorly, narrow behind.
Wings long, of moderate breadth ; the cubitus rather longer
than the tail ; the membranes thin and bare. The poUex
rather stout, though much compressed, of three joints, with
the claw extremely compressed, moderately curved, edged be-
neath, broad at the base, acuminate. The index of two
joints, the last cartilaginous ; the other digits of three joints.
The hind limbs rather long, toes rather stout, nearly equal,
compressed, the outer shortest ; the claws small, compressed,
moderately curved, thin-edged, broad at the base, acuminate.
The spur half an inch long. The tail long, and extending
a twelfth of an inch beyond the membranes.

The fur rather long, dense, very soft, inclining to silky

Prof» MacGillivray on TesperUUo Daubentonii» 267

beneath. Several long bristles onthe cheeks and chin. Ears

bare, unless at the base above, and on the basal lobe beneath.

On the toes are rather strong scattered bristles, four or fivo

of which at the end are conspicuous.

On the upper parts the fur is of a dusky reddish-brown, the

tips of the hairs being of that colour, although the base is dus-
ky ; the lower parts hoary or light grey, with a tinge of pale
brown on the sides ; but the hairs black at the base. The
membranes are dusky, with a tinge of reddish, and the inter-
femoral has a greyish tint beneath.

Incisors |, Canines }, Laniars |, Molars -J = |§ = 38.
In the upper jaw. — There is a wide interval in front with-
out teeth. On each side are -two approximated, compressed
incisors ; the first or inner slightly emarginate, and with a minute
inner lobe, the second bifid. Canine tooth conical, straight,
with a heel behind. First laniar small, conical ; second very
small, conical. First molar conical, nearly as long as the
canine, second and third with three conical points, the inner
largest ; fourth smaller, with two points.

In the lower jaw* — There are on each side three closely sct>
gradually enlarging incisors, filling up the whole space, all
thin, and obtusely bifid. Canine tooth conical, straight, with
a heel. First laniar conical, with an anterior lobe ; second
very small, conical. First molar conical, with two small
knobs ; the other three with two external and three internal
conical points, the outer point larger.

Female, — Similar to the male, but smaller, and of a some-
what lighter tint beneath.

The following are the principal dimensions of the two in-
dividuals, in inches and twelfths.

Lenfytli to end of tail;

Length of head, . , ,

Length of head and body,

Length of tail,

Extent of wings, . . .

Inner margin of ear.

Outer, ....

Length of ear from base of tragus,

Tragus in length, .

Humerus, 0 U 0 10

Male.

Female.

3 6

3 2

0 9

0 n

2 0

1 10

1 5

1 44

11 6

9 2

0 6i

0 6

0 7i

0 7i

0 6}

0 6

0 3

0 3

258 Prof. MacGillivray on Vesper tilio Daubentonit,

Male. Female.

Cubitus, 16 16

PoIIex, 0 3i 0 8

Its claw, 0 li 0 li

Index, ....... 1 6 14

Third finger, 2 7 2 3

Fourth, 2 li 1 10

Fifth, ........ 2 0 19

Femur, ...... 0 6i 06

Tibia, 0 9 0 7h

Inner toe, 0 3| 0 8

Its claw, 0 li 0 1

Outer toe, 0 2i 0 1

Its claw, . 0 li 0 1

In the young individual, the fur is shorter and less dense,
on the head thin ; the upper parts of a sooty-black, the lower
dull grey, mixed with dusky. Length 2^ inches.

In the male, the heart ovato-oblong, 4 twelfths in length ;
the spleen 6 twelfths long, 1 twelfth in breadth ; the stomach
ovato-elliptical, 7 twelfths long ; the intestine 8 inches long ;
the liver very large, and lobed ; the kidneys ovato-elliptical,
a little curved, 2| twelfths long ; the testes' broadly elliptical,
li twelfth long.

This species is distinguished from the Pipistrelle by its larger
size, and different proportions, but especially by the form of
the tragus, which is much narrower, and not broadly rounded
at the end, but tapering to a point, which, however, is not ex-
actly acute.

As to its habits, I can only say that it appears to differ in
no respect from the Pipistrelle and several other species. It
flies about in the evenings, in clear nights, occasionally by
day in very dull weather, and retires from the light, seeking
refuge in the steeples of the church, where it also hibernates.
It is very much infested with parasites of three species, inso-
much that the membranes of the two adult individuals de-
scribed above, were dotted all over with inflamed spots caused
by their punctures.-

That this species has ever been met with before in Scot-
land is not apparent. Dr Fleming's " V. emarginatus. — Ears
the length of the head, oblong, with a notch on the exterior
margin," is too briefly described to enable one to recognise it ;

Mr D. Milne on Earthquake- Shocks in Great Britain, 259

and if the figure in the seventh volume of the Naturalist's Li-
brary be correct, it cannot be considered as representing the
present species, as the ear is of a different form, although the
tragus is somewhat similar.

13 Chanonry, Old Aberdeen,
UthAtujHst 1041.

Notices of Earthquake-Shocks in Great Britain, and especially
in Scotland, with Inferences suggested by these Notices as to
the Nature and Causes of such Shocks. By David Milne,
Esq., F.R.S E., M.W.S., F.G.S., &c. Communicated by the
Author. (Continued from page 122.)

In the enumeration of Earthquake-shocks given in the pre-
ceding part of this Memoir, no jiotice has been taken of those
which occurred subsequent to September 1839- After that
date, a series of shocks commenced in Scotland, which followed
in such quick succession, and were attended with such strik-
ing effects, that they seem entitled to be considered apart from
those occasional shocks that compose the Register given in the
preceding part. It may also be proper to explain, that one
reason why in that Register no notices have been given of
shocks which occurred in Great Britain previous to the six-
teenth century, is the difficulty of determining whether the
phenomena, which are by ancient authors termed earthquakes,
really can be considered such. In many instances it is plain
that they were mere land-slips, which produced a noise and
a concussion, that led to the belief of an earthquake ; and in
other instances, the description is quite ambiguous. By com-
paring the accounts given by different historians, the truth,
where now obscUre, might probably be arrived at ; — and at
some future time, the author may, perhaps, undertake this exa-
mination. Such an examination has lately been instituted by
Professor Merian of Basle, of the earthquake-shocks which have
occurred there ; and he has already eliminated 118 well-au-
thenticated earthquakes, as having occurred between the
eleventh and eighteenth centuries inclusive. Mr Alexis Per-
rey, of Dijon, is composing a similar catalogue, which com- .

260 Mr D. Milne on Earthquake- Shocks in Great Britain,

mences with a still earlier era. These catalogues will be
afterwards noticed, as affording some inferences remarkably
accordant with those suggested by our British register.

Even within the period embraced by this register, there are
many notices of shocks which have been purposely omitted,
from the impossibility of discovering the month in which they
occurred. It is possible, also, that there are many shocks which
have been omitted, in consequence of the works in which they
are described having been overlooked. Even since the forego-
ing register was framed and printed, the author has found some
additional information regarding particular shocks, of which
he will avail himself in the present part of his Memoir.

In drawing attention to the more important inferences which
the foregoing register seems to warrant, it is intended to notice,
firsts the facts which explain and illustrate the nature and cha-
racter of earthquake-shocks ; and, next, the facts which appear
to be directly or indirectly connected with the cause of the
shocks.

Perhaps it is here proper to explain, that in the brief notices
given in the register of effects produced by the shocks there
recorded, it has not been thought necessary to include a de-
scription of all the effects related of such shocks. Much might
have been added to the accounts which will there be found, of
chimneys rent and thrown down, — of walls cracked and over-
turned,— of slates on house-tops that rattled and were broken,
— of bells set a-ringing, and of the consternation produced
both on human beings and on the lower animals. Little or
no advantage could result, from swelling the register with such
details. The object has been, rather to select and exhibit ef-
fects which seem calculated to throw light on the nature and
causes of earthquake-shocks.

1. Nature of the Shocks. — ^They seem to produce a sensation
of two things, perfectly distinct. In i\\e first place, the earth's
crust at the place where the shock is felt, seems to be always
thrown into a tremulous state, producing feelings very similar
to those experienced on board a steam-boat, when, in blowing
off the steam, or by too great a draught in the funnel, the plates
of the boiler communicate a tremulous motion to the deck. The
peculiar state into which the earth's crust is put, seems to bo

and especialli/ in Scotland. 261

very fitly represented by the term " tremblement de terre*^ em-
ployed by the French. A gentleman who has felt several of
the Perthshire earthquakes has stated to the author, that the
more severe shocks gave him a sensation very similar to that of
a person riding, when the horse shakes himself.

In illustration of this tremulous motion of the earth, when
under the influence of a shock, reference may be made to the
entry in the registry under date 5th November 1789, where it
is noticed, that '* there was a tremulous motion, which made
the flames of candles vibrate and furniture clatter." Under
date August 1786, it is mentioned, that the slates rattled on
the roof of a house, and the strings of a spinet emitted a mu-
sical sound. During the shock of 8th February 1750, the trees
near London are said to have '* quivered."

The other sensation above alluded to, as illustrating the
nature of earthquake-shocks, is that produced by a violent
blow or concussion. This does not appear to be perceived in
all cases. The tremulous or trembling motion is always per-
ceived. When the blow occurs, it is generally in the midst of
the tremors, and at the moment that they are the most intense;
and accompanied with the loudest noise. This blow or con-
cussion is so well known in Strathearn, that it has obtained
from the country people there a particular name ; they call it
the " thud." Its character and effects seem to be well de-
scribed, under dates 5th and 11th November 1789. The shock
felt on the first of these dates, gave the sensation as if the
foundations of the houses had been struck by an immense
mallet : — the shock on the second date, shivered to pieces the
ice on a lake near Lawers House. Under dates 8th March 1750,
September 1833, and March 1839, it is noticed, that blows
were felt to be received by boats on their bottoms, as if they
had struck on rocks. By the first mentioned of these shocks,
fish were forced to leap three feet out of the water — probably
from the pain caused by the concussion.

Since notice has been taken of the Lisbon earthquake of
1755 in the register (on account of its eff'ects in this country),
it may be mentioned, in further illustration of the point now
adverted tQj that h ship off Cape St Vincent, at the time of it3

262 Mr D. Milne on Earthquake-Shocks in Great Britain^

occurrence, experienced the concussion in a very remarkable
manner. Her *' anchors, which were lashed (in the usual place),
bounced up, and the men were thrown a foot and a half along
the deck ; and of a sudden, the ship sunk in the water as low
as her main chains."*'* Another ship at sea about 120 miles
south of the one last mentioned, was struck about the same
time, " and the compass was overturned in the binnacle.' 't

The effects now referred to, must be attributed to a vibra-
tion propagated from the subterranean parts, probably from
one spot, and radiating towards the surface of the earth in all
directions. It may be reasonably supposed, that the part of
the earth's surface which is vertically above the source of this
vibration, will be most violently affected by it,' and that those
parts to which the vibrations rise obliquely, and which they
reach only after passing through a greater mass of strata, will
experience a less violent shock.

It is evident, that if the vibration in question were to emanate
from the earth's centre, it would reach the surface in all places
about the same time, and with equal degrees of violence, suppos-
ing the earth's interior structure to be homogeneous throughout,
or at equal depths. If, therefore, one and the same shock is
felt at different places, at times and with degrees of intensity
which vary with the distance from the point where it was most
intense, the shock must have originated short of the earth's
centre ; and the greater the disparity in the times of its arrival
and the intensity at different places, the nearer to the earth's
surface the source of the vibration must be. If it were known
at what rate such vibrations are propagated through the earth's
crust, the observance of the above circumstances would lead to
a discovery of the depth at which, in any case, a shock origi-
nated.

Some illustration of these remarks is afforded by the Lisbon
earthquake of 1755, and another notice in the register under
date 31st March 1761. As the best method of exhibiting the
facts now referred to, they have been thrown into the form of
tables.

* Discourses on Earthquakes, London, 1757, p. 333. t Ibid. p. 331.

and especially in Scotland,

263

Times at which the Shock of the Earthquake of 1st November
1755 reached different places^ and the principal Phenomena
there.

NaUES of PtACZS.

Time of j-g ftJi
Shock. A. M. I 1 1 2^

Phenomena.

Lat. 39" Long,
11° W

Lat. 38° Long,
10°.47 W

Colares (Por-
tugal),

h.
0 23

}«

24

9 30 IJ

Lisbon,

Oporto,

9 32

9 38

Ayamonte
(Spain)

:...,{

Cadiz,

Tangier and
Tetuan, ....

Madrid,

Gibraltar,

Funchal (Ma-
deira),

Portsmouth,.

Havre and Ble
ville

Shortly \
before \
9 52 j

Shortly \
before I
9 49 J

9 46
9 43

9 55

10 1

10 3
10 23

4

5i
6

8i

12i
13

15

27

26

23
20

32

38

40
60

Supposed place of greatest violence
on earth's surface.

Terrible shock felt in a ship, which
lasted 3'. Other shocks followed
till lli'34' A.M.

Four shocks felt. Walls moved from
E. to W. Smoke issued from the
sea and sea-shore. Coast perma-
nently raised in some places.

Three shocks in quick succession,
which came from the NW. and
destroyed most of the city. Three
refluxes and fluxes of the sea suc-
cessively, which began immediately
after the second shock, or 10' from
beginning of earthquake. In 4'
after the sea retired, a wave of 30
feet in height broke on the shore.

Three shocks. In a few minutes
after, great waves broke on the coast.

In half an hour after the earthquake,
sea broke on coast in three suc-
cessive waves.

At 11 A.M. the sea broke on coast
in six successive waves (which were
above 25 feet in height), with in-
terval of 20' between each of the
first three, and 40' between each
of others.

Three shocks. Sea afterwards broke
on land and did much damage.

Several shocks, which lasted about
6'. Several buildings shaken. Mo-
tion of ground not great.
'Earthquake lasted altogether about
2'. Earth had first a tremulous and
then an undulating motion. Two
shocks at least. The sea rose every
15' till 2 P.M.

Shocks felt to come from eastward.
At 12^ 1' the sea broke on island,
and rose highest on NE. side.
It retired first.

Some of the ships in dock pitched,
whilst others lying obliquely to
them rolled.

Vessels tossed. Sea oscillated N.
and S.

264 Mr D. Milne on Earthquake- Shocks in Great Britain,

Names of Places.

Reading (Berk 1
shire), j

Yarmouth, ...

Ej'am Edge
(Derbyshire)

Durham, ,

The Hague,
Amsterdam,
Leydeu,

Loch Ness,

Hamburgh, ...

Time of
Shock A.M.

h. /

10 27

Shortly 1
before I
10 40 J

About \
10 30]

About
9 58

About 1
10 Gj

10 42

About \
11 43 I

1

o

/

13^

C4

15

80

15^

67

17

35

17

43

18

79

20

140

Phxxomeka.

f Most violent trembling of the ground
for 50" — immediately after which,

I Avater in a pond seen to fioAV from

I S. to N., and to oscillate for 4'.
A vine trained up on a house torn

I from it. People in a house heard

t. a noise as if it were falling.

r Water in haven suddenly agitated,

I which gave ships an uncommon mo-

{ tion.

^ Five shocks, at intervals of 4' or 5'.
A person raised in his chair and
much alarmed. Plaster of room
cracked. Miners heard the rocks
grind on one another, and saw pieces
fall from sides of shafts. Rent 150
yards long formed in ground on
north side of lead vein, which runs
E. and W.
Water in a pond seen to oscillate

several times.
Water violently agitated in harbours,
so that ships broke from their fast-
enings. In vats of breweries, liquid
thrown out. Candelabras in churches
vibrated. Candles hanging in a
chandler's shop made a clashing
noise. Weatliercocks on tops of
steeples seen to move.
At west end of lake a wave run up the
river Oich, which overflowed north
bank for 30 feet. A similar wave,
but smaller, observed at 9'^ 42'.

( Candelabras in churches seen to swing.
-c Water in canals agitated, and mud

I thrown up from bottom. [

The foregoing table is mostly constructed from materials,
which are to be found in the Philosophical Transactions for
the year 1756. In the reports there given, some discrepancy
and vagueness occur in the time at which the shock was per-
ceived at different places. The places mentioned in the fore-
going table, are those from which the reports seem to be the
most exact ; and though even amongst them there is not a
perfect agreement, it will be observed, that, generally speak-
ing, the time at which the shock took to travel to the places
mentioned in the table, varied with the distance from the pro-
bable point of greatest intensity. The times given in tho

and especially in Scotland. 265

second column have been reduced to Lisbon time. The third
column represents the number of degrees (of 70 miles each)
each place is distant from the supposed central point. The
fourth column contains the number of minutes which elapsed
between the tinie when the shock is supposed to have reached
the earth's surface at this last point, and the time of its reach-
ing the different places mentioned in the table.

It is proper here to observe, with reference to the time when
the shock was perceived in different places, that there are some
facts stated, both in this and in other countries, which seem
altogether irreconcilable with the notion of the shock felt
there having been caused by the Lisbon earthquake. It is
mentioned in the table, that the agitation of Loch Ness at Fort
Augustus was first observed at 9^ 42' a.m. The report which
describes the agitation of Loch Lomond, states that it con-
tinued from 9^ 12' till 9^' 57' a.m., there being in that time four or
five fluxes and refluxes, between each of which about 10'
elapsed. The agitation in the lake of Geneva is represented
as having taken place so early as 9 a. m.* It appears that in
Cork, two shocks were felt at 9^^ 33' a. m., with an interval of
about half a minute. If the times are accurately reported, it
is difficult to explain these cases.

The effects of the shock recorded in the foregoing table as
having been noticed at different places, will be afterwards
more particularly referred to. Meanwhile, it may be men-
tioned that the waves produced by the Lisbon earthquake
reached many other places than those given in the table. ^Some
of these may here be specified.

(1.) Mounts Bay (Cornwall). The sea about 1'^ 45' p. m.,
when it was ebbing, and when the weather was *'fair and calm,"
suddenly flowed back on the pier, and continued to rise for
10', after which it retired with great rapidity. It continued
falling for 10', and then as rapidly rose again in the same
space of time. It continued to oscillate in this way for two
hours, creating great danger to boats and shipping, i ■:kii/:mi^

(2.) Creston-Ferry (Devon). About 3^ 40', shortly after

* Bertrand, Ilistoire NaturellO; p. 276. Tho times given ia the text aro

fitill Lisbon time.

266 Mr D. Milne on Earthquake- Shocks in Great Britain^

high water, the sea suddenly retired. In less than 8' it flowed
back with the utmost rapidity. The sea continued thus to
sink and swell alternately for half an hour.

(3 ) Kinsale (Ireland). Between 2 and 3 p. m., when the
weather was **very calm," a large body of water burst sud-
denly into the harbour, which broke the cables of two sloops,
though each moored with two anchors. The sea then retired,
whirling the vessels and boats with inconceivable rapidity.
It continued to swell and fall in this way for about 10'.

(4.) Swansea. At 6^ 21' p. m., " a great head of water
rushed with a great noise" up the Bristol channel. Two large
vessels, (one above 200 tons), had their moorings broken by it.

(5 ) Barbadoes. At 5^ 20', " the sea ebbed and flowed in a
most surprising manner."*

(6.) Antigua. The occurrence of waves is mentioned as
having been first observed here at &^ 58' p. m.

From the foregoing data, it would appear that the wave of
the Lisbon earthquake travelled to

Plymouth^ at the average rate of 2.1 miles per minute,

Mount's Bay,

. 2.7

Cadiz, ...

3.6

Funchal (Madeira)

3.7

Ayamonte,

5

Lisbon,

6.6

Antigua, . .

6

Barbadoes,

7.3

It is obvious that the difi^erences in the rates of progression
may be explained by the differences in the depths of the ocean
traversed by the wave. It has been ascertained by expe-
riment, that the velocity of a wave is nearly proportional
to the square root of the depth.t

* History of Earthquakes, p, 328.

t Reports of British Association, vol. vi. p. i3©.

and e&pecially in Scotland,

267

Times at which the Shock of the Earthquake of 31*^ March
1761, reached different places^ with an Abstract of the prin-
cipal Phenomena there.

Names of Places.

Lat. 43° I>ong,
11 W

Ut. 43°. Not
many leagues
from coast,

Ship in Lat. 44
and about 80
leagues from
shore

ShipinLat.44°.8
about 80 leagues
W.NW, from
CapeFinisterre,

Lisbon,

Madeira,

Cork,

Loch Ness,

Amsterdam, &c.

Time of
Shock A.M.

11 51

1"

52

54

11 :^i

11 58

Noon.

12 6

12 11

Between

1 1'' 40* &

12'»40'

Between
li&l|

P.M.

E.Sc .

If

3*

10

11
15i

gg.w
•- =■*-

15

20

Between

20 &

49'

Between
84' &
114'

Phenomena.

Supposed point of greatest violence

Most violent shock on board a ship,
which knocked needle off spindle of
compass. Immediately after, there
was a very severe storm of wind
and rain.

Two violent shocks, felt on board a
ship : — the first lasted 1^' — the se
cond not quite so long. They were
accompanied by a noise, as if of
empty casks tossing about in the
hold. Ship immediately made wa-
ter, from its seams opening. The
crew, thinking the ship sinking,
got out the long boat.

A violent shock. Sea register un-
der this date.

Two violent shocks felt.

Earthquake lasted about 5'. Not so
severeasin 1755, and more equable.
Only a few old houses thrown down.
At Oporto, the concussion was very
strong. At Madrid, shock lasted
2^' andthrew down some furniture.
In 1^ hour afterwards, sea began
to flow and ebb, every 6' till 6 p.m.

Shock very violent. A church de-
stroyed and some rocks split. Con-
cussion came from eastward, — at
which side of island, fluctuations
of the sea were greatest.

Undulations said to be from E. to "W.
Shock moi*e violent than on 1st
Nov. 1755. It lasted only one
minute.

The water in Loch suddenly rose near-
ly 30 inches, and continued to rise
and fall for half an hour. By an-
other account, the time given is
l** 40^. An uncommon hollow sound
accompanied the phenomena. It
was calm at the time, and for hours
before and after.

The candelabras in churches made to
swing; one observed to have moved
a foot from the perpendicular.
Vessels in harbour agitate<l.

268 Mr D. Milne on Earthquake- Shocks in Great Britain,

This table has been constructed in the same way as the one
applicable to the earthquake of 1755 ; and it establishes the
same general result, that the shock reached different parts of
the earth's surface, at periods corresponding with their dis-
tances from a central point.

The discrepancy in the rate at which the shock appears to
have travelled to different places, may in both tables be to a
great degree accounted for by some error in the reported
time of its arrival. But it may be expected, that some dif-
ference in the actual rate of transmission should occur, if there
be, as is probable, a variation in the density and structure of
the earth's crust in the parts traversed.

On comparing the two tables, it will be observed, that, in
the last, the interval between the times of arrival of the shock
at the earth's surface, was much less in the earthquake of
1761 than in that of 1755. It may be inferred from this, that
the point where the shock originated, was in this last earthquake
much deeper below the surface than in the former one.*

To the phenomena noted in the last-mentioned table, some
additional facts may be given, as to the propagation of the wave.

(1.) Carrick, on the river Sure, about thirty miles from the
sea, on the south coast of Ireland. At 3^^ 52' p. m., the water
in 5' rose to the height of 4 feet ; at Dungarvon the fluctua-
tions are said to have commenced about 3^^ 53' p. m. At
Kinsale, the sea ebbed and flowed several times, taking 4' to
ebb and 4' to flow. The first fluctuation was the greatest.

(2.) Scilly Isles. The sea rose here at 4^ 40' p. m., and con-
tinued for two hours in a state of fluctuation.

(3.) Mounts Bay (Cornwall). At 4*' 45' p. m., the sea sud-
denly flowed upon the land, then it retreated ; and this flux

* On the 2d February 1816, at Oh 40' a. m., a severe earthquake was felt at
Lisbon, which lasted almost an entire minute. The oscillations seemed to
pass from NE. to SW. Abundance of rain fell immediately after. This
earthquake was felt not only throughout the whole of Portugal, but also at
Madeira and in Holland. It is not known whether the concussion was per-
ceived in Great Britain. A ship at sea, about 120 leagues W.SW. from
Lisbon, felt the shock about two minutes after it was perceived there ; and
another ship, about 270 leagues from Lisbon also W.SW. from it, felt it
about six minutes after it was perceived there {Annalcs do Chiraie et de
Physique, tome xi. p. 324).

and espeeiallt/ in Scotland. 269

and reflux was repeated four other times, during an hour.
The first rise was the greatest.

(4.) Dublin. At 5'' 49' p. m., the sea suddenly rose about
two feet, and then retired. This was repeated several times.

(5.) Barbadoes. At 7^ 50' p. m., the sea suddenly retired
from the land, and in about 3' returned. In about 3i^ hours
the fluctuations abated ; but in two hours after, they were re-
newed.

From these data, it may be inferred that the wave of this
earthquake travelled to
(1.) Scilly Isles and Mounts Bay, at the averag^e rate of 2 miles per min.,

(2.) Dublin, 2.1

(3.)Carrick, 2.7

(4.) Lisbon, •••.... 3.2
(6.) Barbadoes, 7.4

These rates of transmission agree very closely with those
deduced from the earthquake of 1755. The wave, on this oc-
casion, took longer to travel to Lisbon and Mounts Bay, be-
cause it seems to have originated nearer the coast than in the
earthquake of 1755, and therefore traversed shallower parts
of the ocean to these places.*

It will be observed, that, on both occasions, the sea is stated
to have retired from the land in many places, before it rose.
It is probable that the phenomenon occurred at all the places,
and was not observed, in consequence of its being less likely
to attract attention than the rise of the sea, and from having
occurred at the commencement.

Indeed, when the nature and cause of the earthquake-wave
are considered, it is manifest that the sea had everywhere re-
tired first. That the elevation of the sea must, at the point

* From the foregoing data, an approximative estimate may be made of
the depth of the Atlantic Ocean. Mr Scott Eussell in his Report on Waves
(British Association Reports, vol. vi. p. 446), states, that he had observed a
wave have a velocity of 20 miles per hour, where the depth was 53 fathoms.
Applying the rule before referred to, that the velocity of the wave is propor-
tional to the square root of the depth, — this would give a depth of 26 miles,
between Barbadoes and that part of the Atlantic Ocean, where the wave
originated. This is more than double what La Place estimated the average
depth of the entire ocean to be in all parts of it ; it may, therefore, be not
far from the truth in regard to the central parts of the Atlantic Ocean.

VOL. XXXI. NO. LXII. OCTOBER 1841. S

270 Mr D. Milne on Earthquake- Bhocks in Great Britain^

of maximum violence, Lave been great, is evident from tliei
distance to which the wave was propagated, and its consider-
able height. But such an elevation of the level of the sea, in
any one place, would have the effect of drawing towards it the
water in adjoining parts, and thus lowering their level ; and
for the same reason, the advance of the wave would everywhere
be heralded by a depression of the waters.

Whether the wave is produced by a convulsive vertical heave
of the bottom of the sea, or by the mere effects of a vibration
transmitted through the earth's crust, is a question which ad-
mits of some doubt. In the Lisbon earthquake, there were
appearances which support the former supposition ; for, on
the night preceding the earthquake, before any shocks were
felt, the springs at Colares and Lisbon were strongly affected,
affording proof that the general mass of the earth's crust had
begun to be acted on from below ; and it was ascertained that
it had been raised by the earthquake in different places, both
within and beyond the limits of the ocean.*

It is by no means intended to be affirmed, that mall earth-
quakes there is, in addition to a vibration upwards, an up-
heaval of the earth's surface en masse. Such, however, ap-
pears to have been the case in the Lisbon earthquake, and it
is probably the cause of those great elevations of the sea which
frequently accompany earthquakes. Such extraordinary fluxes
and refluxes are not uncommon in the harbours of our own sea-
girt country ; and are probably to be ascribed to earthquakes
in the ocean, of which no other indication reaches us.

The foregoing remarks are much more than sufficient to
illustrate the stature of the shocks^ and particularly the tremu-
lous motion and the concussion, of which the shocks most fre-
quently consist. Some other points have, in the course of

• In the account given in the Pliilosopliical Transactions for 1755, (page
41G), of the phenomena at Colares (20 miles north of Lisbon), it is men-
tioned, '' that in a passage between certain rocks and the main land, vessels
had previously sailed, even at low-water, and now you may go to them at
low-water without wetting your feet." It is added, that " in other places
it appears, by the cliange of the currents, that the earth was moved, so that
some spots are more elevated, others more depressed, than before."

and especiallj/ in Scotland. 271

these remarks, been unavoidably mixed up ; and on that ac-
count, when again adverted to, they will be the more briefly
noticed.

2. Nature of the motion on the earth's surface, produced by
the shocks. — There is evidence of three distinct kinds of motion,
(1.) an upwardmotion ; (2.) a horizontal motion ; and, (3.) a com-
plex or undulating motion. (1.) In illustration of the upward
vertical motion, the following account by the Rev. Mr Gilfillan
of Comrie, describing the shock of 2d January 1795, may be
quoted. The account is taken from the Edinburgh Courant
newspaper of 10th January 1795. *' In all the former shocks,
the motion was horizontal, and pushed every thing to one side ;
but in the late one, the concussion was perpendicular. The
house in which I lodge seemed to be lifted or thrown directly
upward, and fell down again with a sudden crash ; but as the
force was not so violent as to alter the centre^ no harm was
done to any thing in it." So also the same intelligent jour-
nalist, with reference to a shoclv on the 12th March 1795, notes
" Two most alarming shocks, with an interval of 3" interven-
ing, accompanied by an uncommonly loud noise. Every thing
was heaved upwards^

(2.) In illustration of the horizontal motion produced by
earthquake-shocks, notice may be taken of a fact mentioned
by the Rev. Mr Stukely in his paper on the Philosophy of
Earthquakes, that, during the earthquake of 30th December
1739 in the West Riding of Yorkshire, " the earth moved
backward and forward horizontally, — quivering with recipro-
cal vibration.'"' Reference may also be made to the injury to
the spire of Inverness Town-Hall, the upper part of which
was dislocated by a shock in 1816, and was moved two or
three inches towards the NW. The shock was, by other
data, ascertained to have come from the NW., whereby build-
ings were suddenly pushed horizontally to the SE., and left,
as it were, behind them stones and other objects not firmly
attached (especially chimney-cans), and to which, therefore,
the movement could not be instantaneously communicated.

(3.) In very many cases, and probably in most, the vertical
and horizontal motions of the earth's surface seem to be com-

272 Mr D. Milne on Earthquake-Shocks in Great Britain^

binod, so as to produce a slight progressive swell, by which
objects are moved upwards and forwards, and then brought
back to their original position.

One of the most distinct illustrations of this complex move-
ment, which is precisely similar to that of a ground-swell of
the sea, is afforded in the register, under date 31st December
1755, where it is mentioned that a person was first jolted to
the head of his bed, and then thrown back to where he lay
before. During the shock of August 1786, it is noticed, that
a person sitting on the ground, with his face to the west, felt
it heave up, first up under his right thigh, and instantly after
under his left. During the shock of 18th January 1809, a
gentleman riding recognised the noise, which was the usual
precursor of a shock. His horse stopped, and when the noise
was loudest, he distinctly felt the earth heave upwards and
undulate in a SE. direction. Here, also, the observation of
Sir Thomas D. Lauder, under date 13th August 1816, may
be referred to, as indicating not only a lifting of the ground,
but also a forward and next a retrograde movement of the
earth's surface. It must have been from this undulatory mo-
tion, that waves at the Kessock Ferry, perceived by persons
in a boat, were produced by the same earthquake. During
the shock of October 1821, an observer states, " I felt the
ground move under my feet, as if I had been on a piece of
moving bog."

To these examples from Scotland, some from England may
be referred to. At Chichester, in 1707, as noticed in the re-
gister, there were distinct undulations of the surface, that
rolled in an E. and W. direction, causing beds standing N. and
S. to roll, and those standing E. and W. to pitch. The same
observation was made at Chichester in October 1731. In Lon-
don, which, as is shewn by the register, was severely agitated
by a shock on 8th February 1750, a person leaning on a desk
felt it first pushed up under one arm, and next under the other.
At another place near London, the ground, during the same
earthquake, though dry and solid, is described as having waved
like the surface of a river, and the tall trees bent their tops.
At Liverpool, in April 1750, a person compares the motion

and especially/ in Scotland, 27S

felt by him to have been the same as in "a vessel falling from
the top of one wave and rising again upon the next." The
account given under date 27th May 1773 is still more distinct ;
for it is there stated, that during a severe shock which caused
great cracks, *' a field of young oats was seen to heave up, and
roll about like waves of water. The trees moved as if blown
by the wind, though the air was at the time calm and serene."
In the shock of 8th March 1750, a person who felt it relates, " I
perceived myself raised in my bed, and the motion began on
my right side, and inclined me towards the left." At Gibral-
tar, when the shock of the Lisbon earthquake arrived there,
" the guns on the battery were seen some to rise, others to
sink, the earth having an undulating motion.''* Other notices
to a similar effect will be found under dates 9th December
1780, 29th August 1781, and September 1839.

There are some cases which, if they do not go the length
of proving a rolling motion of the surface, at all events shew
that objects are suddenly impelled forward by a shock. Un-
der dates March 1792 and March 1816, it is mentioned, that
articles, such as pictures, hanging by nails on the walls of
houses, were made to oscillate. In Holland, the shock of the
Lisbon earthquake, and the other in 1761, as noticed in the
two preceding tables, caused the candelabras hanging in the
churches to swing, and the candles hanging in a tallow-chan-
dler's shop to strike on one another. These, and the other
curious fact, that, on the tops of some of the steeples, the
weathercocks were simultaneously affected, may be explained
by supposing a sudden forward motion of the ground. But
it is most probable there was also a slight vertical motion ac-
companying it.f

In one instance the amount of horizontal displacement is
given ; for it is said that the candelabra deviated from the
perpendicular to the extent of one foot. It is to be presumed
that the building to which it was suspended, was pushed for-

* Discourses on Earthquakes, p. 322.

t See " Amsterdam^' ju the Table for Earthcj^uakp of 31st Maych 176I, page
267 hereof.

S74 Mr D. Milne on Earthquake-Shocks in Great JSritam,

ward to this distance at least ; and that the candelabra, by its
inertia, was left behind.

With the foregoing proofs, that the earth's surface with
every successive shock is made to undulate more or less, there
is no reason to disbelieve the accounts of sensations of sea-
sickness, which are said to have been frequently experienced
during earthquakes. Sir Thomas Lauder, in his account of
the Inverness earthquake of August 1816, alludes to these
sensations ; and there are many other cases in which the same
thing was perceived, though it was not necessary to mention
them in the register. During the undulations of the ground at
Gibraltar, produced by the Lisbon earthquake, " most people
were seized with giddiness and sickness, and some fell down ;
others were stupified, though many that were walking or rid-
ing felt no motion, but were sick.*

(4.) The motion produced by the shocks, seems to be more
felt in certain positions and situations than in others. The
statement just referred to as to the shock at Gibraltar having
been felt least by persons walking and riding, is corroborated
by the statement in the register, that the shock of 30th Sep-
tember 1750 in Derbyshire, " was scarcely perceived by per-
sons walking — more by those standing — and most of all by
persons sitting ; and perceived more in the upper storeys of
houses than in the lower storeys and cellars." Obviously
the undulations must be best felt by those who are at the time
most in contact with the ground ; and the upper storeys of
houses, and the tops of steeples, must be moved more than the
parts of the buildings next the ground, in the same way that,
when a vessel rises over a wave, the top of its mast moves
over a greater arc than the hull.

If reference is made to the notices under dates 8th March
1750, 6th November 1764, and 13th August 1815, it will be
seen that alluvial places were always the most convulsed.
These cases are strongly confirmed by the fact, that the earth-
quakes of 1st November 1755 and 31st March 1761 produced
effects more remarkable in Holland, than in places much

* Discourses on Earthquakes, p. 322.

and eipecially in Scotland, 275

nearer the source of violence, but more solid in geological
structure. The reason is probably to be found in the greater
effect which the vibrations have upon materials which are not
firmly attached to the earth's crust, and are of a soft and
pliable texture. If a table be struck from below with the hand,
all loose objects upon it will start up. On this principle it is
easy to see why slates on the tops of houses should be heard
to clatter, how articles of furniture should be knocked over,
and the crew in a ship struck with the shock of the Lisbon
earthquake should have been thrown off the deck.

But a question may here be asked, are the undulations
of the earth's surface produced by vibrations, or (as many
eminent men maintain) are they produced by corresponding
undulations in the liquid nucleus on which the earth's crust is
supposed to float "? This is a question of which no direct so-
lution is afforded by the register, and which demands obser-
vations much more exact than any hitherto made. It is,
however, not immaterial to observe, that, whilst the one of
these theories involves a purely hypothetical and very doubt-
ful cause, the other is ascribed to an agent which is known
not only to exist, but to accompany the undulations. That
the undulations in Holland during the earthquakes of 1st No-
vember 1755 and 31st March 1761 were accompanied by strong
vibrations, is evident from what has been already said, and
likewise from the following statements : — " At Harlem, for
near four minutes together, not only the water in the rivers,
canals, &c., but also all manner of fluids in smaller quantities,
as in coolers^ tubsy vats^ «Sjc., were astonishingly agitated and
dashed over the sides, notwithstanding no motion was per-
ceptible in the containing vessels. In such small quantities
also, the surface of the fluid had apparently a direct ascent."*
At Leyden " the same motion Avas perceived in the water of
the backs (vats?) of two brew-houses.'"t

In considering the possibility of an undulation being pro-
duced by a mere vibration transmitted upwards, it must be
remembered that the vibration operates at any particular mo-

* Discourses ou Earthquakes, p. 309. t Ibid. p. 310.

270 Mr D. Milne on Earthquake-Shocks in Great Britain,
ment, on more than a mere point of the earth's surface. Let

'iX^r\ xf-x-^^^.. f ^^^Pv^

E E represent a portion of the earth's surface, to which a vi-
bration is transmitted from C, a point at any depth short of
the earth's centre. It is evident that the vibratory impulse will
advance in circles, just as on the surface of water when a stone
is dropped into it. This vibratory impulse, in its advances
upwards, may, at different successive stages, be represented
by the circular arcs A A A A, A' A' A' A' A', A'' A" A'^ A",
and A'" A"', &c. When the arc of vibration first reaches the
earth's surface, it, of course, there produces a vertical upheav-
ing of the outer cuticle, which resembles a wave in outline.
As it continues to advance, the middle portion of the arc is no
longer below the earth's surface ; — the undulation then divides,
following the broken fragments of the arc, as represented in
the foregoing figure. When the arc of vibration reaches the
position A" A" A" A", it is evident that the impulse given to
the earth's surface is no longer vertically upwards. It is in
an oblique direction, and the more so as the distance from
the central point increases. Thus not only the wave as-
sumes a different outline, but loose articles and objects will
be impelled in a direction more or less inclined to the hori-
zon. If instruments could be invented which at different
places would indicate, not merely the relative intensity of the

and espeeiallxf in Scotland, 277

shocks, but the direction in which they acted on bodies, means
would be obtained of determining the point in the earth's in-
terior from which the shocks originated.

Whilst thus it seems impossible to deny that vibrations
transmitted from below are capable of producing undulations
on the surface of the ground, and that vibrations actually ac-
company these undulations, there is a circumstance which
seems not easily explicable on any other supposition than that
the undulations are caused by such vibrations. It has just
been shewn, that the undulations are always strongest on allu-
vial plains. But if the undulations were caused by a corres-
ponding movement in a liquid nucleus below the crust of the
earth, there should be scarcely any appreciable difference on
this account. The whole mass would be very nearly equally
affected ; and if there were any difference in the effect of the
supposed subterranean undulations, they would be less visible
on alluvial districts. But on the theory of vibrations, it can
at once be understood why those parts which are soft and
yielding should, consistently with the fact, be the most affected.
3. Bents and subsidences produced by Earthquakes. — These
effects have fortunately been exhibited in this country on a
very small scale. The earthquake of November 1755, for
example, which produced great rents on the coast of Por-
tugal, caused a new quay at Lisbon to be submerged to an
unfathomable depth, and made an opening in the earth near
Morocco which swallowed up a village with eight to ten thou-
sand inhabitants, scarcely produced any derangement of the
earth's crust in Great Britain. The hot springs at Bristol
were discoloured, and for some months rendered unfit for use ;
the rocks in Derbyshire mines were heard to grind on one
another ; a rent of 150 yards in length, about one foot deep
and six inches across, was formed at these mines ; — but no
very material derangement of the earth's interior under this
country, seems to have been caused.

On glancing over the register, however, some remarkable
cases of fractures on other occasions will be perceived. A
hole in the ground, sixty or seventy yards in diameter, was
formed at Whitehaven during the cartli quake of February
1792, — whether above any excavations for coal is not stated.

278 Mr D. Milne on Earthquake-Shocks in Great Britatny

In Shropshire, it will be seen, under date 27th May 1773,
that several very long and deep chasms were formed, from
fourteen to thirty yards wide, as also cracks and rents from
four inches to six yards wide. At Ripon (Yorkshire) there
was, in 1827, a fissure nearly twenty yards wide. In January
1838, a rent at Tynehead was formed nearly half a mile long.
Under dates, 29th December 1737, 29th December 1769, 31st
.January 1773, and January 1787, will be found farther indica-
tions of similar effects.

A curious notice under date 15th July 1757, may here be
referred to. It is stated, that '' several small risings as big as
molehills, were observed in the morning before the shocks
happened, on the sands of the beach, having a black speck
in the middle of the top, as if something had issued from it.
From one of the hollows between those risings, there issued a
strong gush of water, about as thick as a man's wrist." Similar
appearances were observed in Chili and Calabria, during the
great earthquakes there. They have been generally supposed
to be produced by water squirting up ; but this explanation
seems by no means satisfactory.

From the account given of the rent, or " cleft'' as it is
termed, produced at the Derbyshire mines, it appears that its
direction was due east and west.* This is just the direction
which was to have been expected, from an undulation advan-
cing in a north direction. It is probable that the vessels in
Portsmouth docks, which are said to have rolled on the arrival
of the shock there, must have been lying in an east and west
direction ; — unfortunately the report given in the Philosophi-
cal Transactions, omits this circumstance. t

4. That most of the Shocks recorded in the Kegister origi-
nated i7i, or emanated from, poitits immediately beneath Great
Britain^ and were not transmitted from distant regions, must
be evident, when the following considerations are attended to :
It will be seen, on examining the accounts given of the
shocks, (1.), that, with few exceptions, they affected only cer-
tain portions of the island ; (2.) that there was, in all the dis-
tricts affected, some spot where the concussion and attendant

♦Philosophical Transactions for 1755, p. 400. t Ibid. p. 351.

and especially/ in Scotland. 279

noise were greater than anywhere else, and that they dimi-
nished with the distance from this spot ; (3.) that the shock and
the noise moved simultaneously in all directions, from this spot.

If these inferences are sound, Mr Lyell has not given a cor-
rect representation of the earthquakes which occur in this coun-
try. He says, that " all countries are liable to slight tremors at
distant intervals of time, when some great crisis of subterranean
movement agitates an adjoining volcanic region. But these
may be considered as 7nere vibratiotis, propagated mechanically
through the external covering of the globe, as sounds travel
almost to indefinite distances through the air. Shocks of this
kind have been felt in England, Scotla7id^ Northern France,
and Germany, particularly during the Lisbon earthquake.''*
It is evident, from this passage, that Mr Lyell considers any
shocks which occur in England and Scotland, to be mere vi-
brations transmitted along the earth's surface from some dis-
tant volcanic outburst. It is true that there are, in the fore-
going register, cases of this description, and of which the
Lisbon earthquake, referred to by Mr Lyell, is one ; but it
must be evident, for the reasons already given, that the vast
majority of the shocks recorded, present phenomena totally
distinct from those exhibited by the Lisbon earthquake, and
that they are truly indigenous to this country.

If, then (as can scarcely be doubted), most of the shocks re-
corded in the foregoing register have their sources in this
country, it becomes an object of interest to discover where
these sources are, and whether they lie deep in the globe.

It bears strongly on this point to observe, that, out of 139
shocks in Scotland, there were 85 which emanated from
Stratherne, and apparently near Comrie ; and that 23 ema-
nated from the Great Glen or its vicinity. In England, out of
the 116 shocks recorded as having there occurred, 31 origi-
nated in Wales, 31 along the south coast of England, 14 in the
borders of Yorkshire and Derbyshire, and 5 or 6 in Cumber-
land.

These facts seem to shew that the seat of action cannot
be very far down in the earth's interior, otherwise the effects,

* LyelPs Principles, vol. ij. p. 59 (fifth edition^.

280 Mr D. Milne on Earthquake-Shocks in Great Britain^

which in many cases were considerable, would not have been
confined to mere patches of the earth's surface. The lower
the source from which the earthquaking force emanates, the
more nearly equal will be its distance to different parts of the
carth*'s surface ; and in that case, if it produces any effects visi-
ble on the earth's surface, these effects will be the more widely
extended. Since the effects of most of the shocks noticed in
the register were confined to this island, and even to certain
districts of it, it follows that the source of these shocks was
immediately beneath Great Britain, and at no great depth.

It has sometimes been asked, whether the sources of earth-
quakes in this country are connected with the sources of vol-
canic action in far distant parts of the globed It cannot be
denied that some curious coincidences may be traced between
the times of the occurrence of earthquakes in this and foreign
countries, of which the following arc examples.

(1.) On the 8th and on the 9th Feb. 1750, a violent shock
of earthquake was felt in the southern parts of England, as
also at Boulogne and Calais. On the same days, violent shocks
are said to have been felt at Rome, Tivoli, Albano, Freschati,
and other towns of Italy.

(2.) On the 8th March 1750, precisely the same parts of
England were again agitated ; and again, on the same day,
the places in Italy above mentioned are said to have been con-
vulsed.

It is also deserving of remark, that in England, on both
these occasions, the undulatory motion is described as having
been in an E. and W. direction.

No notices have been found shewing that the intermediate
countries were affected.

(3.) On the 4tli May 1750, when, as stated in the register,
an earthquake was felt in Dorsetshire, an earthquake occurred
in Calabria.

(4.) On the 23d Aug. 1750, when Nottingham and the ad-
joining counties were agitated, Philippoli, in European Tur-
key, was destroyed by an earthquake, and 4000 persons killed.
The direction of the motion in England was from SE. to NW.

(5.) On the 18th Feb. 1756, when an earthquake was felt
in London, Margate^ and Dover, just before 8 a m., it is re-

and especially/ in Scotland, 281

lated that a shock was felt in Paris, Navarre, Cologne, Aix-
la-Chapelle, Maestricht, the Hague, Amsterdam, &;c. The
time of its occurrence at all these places was, as nearly as pos-
sible, the same. The direction of the motion in England agrees
with the supposition that the shocks were identical, being from
E. to W. The district most affected by this earthquake seems
to have been near Cologne ; a great rent was formed in a
mountain there.

(6.) On the 18th and 20th Nov. 1756, shocks were felt in
different parts of Argyleshire, and chiefly at Rothsay and In-
verhallan. On the last of these days, there was an earthquake
at Malta.

(7.) On the 3d Jan. 1768, the register shews that shocks
were felt in Shetland and in Northamptonshire.

(8.) On the 30th Dec. 1789, it is mentioned in the Trans-
actions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, that a shock was
felt simultaneously at Parson''s Green, near Edinburgh, and at
Florence.

(9.) On the 13th Aug. 1816, when the remarkable earth-
quake which agitated the northern half of Scotland occurred,
Signor Gemallaro* relates that a loud noise was heard from
Etna, and which was caused (as he subsequently ascertained)
by a portion of the interior of the great crater falling in.

(10.) On the 20th Feb. 1818, as the register shews, shocks
were felt at Inverness, and in Lincolnshire. On the same day
a series of earthquakes commenced in Sicily, which, on the
28th February, destroyed Catania.

(11.) On the 18th Sept 1833, when an earthquake was felt
at Chichester, and on the sea off that part of the English
coast, the towns of Arica and Tacna, in Peru, were utterly de-
stroyed.

(12.) On the 25th August 1834, an earthquake was felt at
Comrie, on which day, as well as on that preceding and on
that following, Vesuvius was in violent eruption.

(13.) On the 22d Sept. 1834, when the shock of an earth-
quake was felt at Chichester, the city of Tacna, in South Ame-

* Brande's Journal of Science, vol. xiv. p. 324.

282 Mr D. Milne oh Earthquake- Shocks in Great Britahii

ricii, was> at 8 p.m. on the same clay (reckoning by the clocks
there), visited by a severe shock, which lasted half a minute.
It is very probable tliat to the list nov*^ presented other
cases might be added, in which shocks of earthquake oc-
curred in this and some distant country about the same time.
Some of these cases evidently indicate nothing more than the
vibration communicated by one single concussion to adjoining
regions, as in the case of the celebrated Lisbon earthquake.
The fifth example in the above list, evidently belongs to this
class, and it is probable that there are several others.

The cases about which any question can arise, are those
where two distant parts of the globe are agitated at the same
moment, without any appearance of a commotion in the inter-
vening region. That such a subterranean connection may
exist, is placed beyond doubt by the account which Humboldt
has given of the eruptions in South America. He relates an
instance where a volcanic mountain, which had for time im-
memorial emitted smoke, ceased to do so at the vei-y moment
that a terrible earthquake occurred in a distant part of that
extensive continent. Without denying, then, the possibility/ of
a connection existing between the sources of British earth-
quakes and those in foreign countries (as in Calabria), it is the
evidence that such a connection does exist which is deside-
rated. The only circumstance founded on to prove this, is
the occurrence of the shocks in these dista^nt regions, on one
and the same dai/. But it should be recollected that in Cala-
bria, Sicily, South America, and many other countries, earth-
quake-shocks occur almost every month, and occasionally for
days and weeks continuously ; so that, in such cases, it is very
possible that on the same day, nay, at the same hour, that
shocks are felt in this country, shocks should be going on in
other regions, without there being the least connection between
the several series.

But insufficient as is the coincidence of time to form, of itself,
a proof of connection between the shocks indigenous to this
country and those which occur abroad, even this element is
awanting in all the cases which have been suggested. It has
never been shewn that the shocks coincide more closely than

and especiallj/ in Scotland. ^8^

by occurring on the same day^ which allows, generally speaking,
a difference of nearly twenty-four hours between them. As
long as there is such vagueness in the data, it is impossible to
draw any conclusion. Indeed, it may be affirmed, that until
registers are kept in those districts which are known to be
particularly subject to earthquake-shocks (as there now are at
Comrie in Perthshire, and at St Jean de Mauricnno), so as to
fix not merely the day, but the hour and minute of their oc-
currence, with other particulars, it will be impossible to say
whether the sources of volcanic action in this country and in
other countries are connected.

5. The localities in this country, which are most subject to
Earthquake- Shocks, are charactei'izedhy certain geological fea-
tures.

It has been mentioned that nearly two-thirds of the shocks
felt in Scotland occur in the district of Stratherne, and par-
ticularly in the neighbourhood of Comrie ; and that a large
proportion issue from the Great Glen of Scotland. Now, along
these districts, it is well known that there are deep and ex-
tensive fissures and dislocations in the earth's crust ; and, more-
over, that there is an extensive development of granite and
ancient porphyry rocks, which are generally thought to have
their foundations deeply laid in the interior of our planet.
Through Stratherne, the author has lately traced seven or eight
basaltic dykes, filling up ancient fissures, which are all parallel
to one another, and run in a direction nearly, if not exactly, co-
incident with the adjoining range of the Grampians. These
dykes have been traced for about 50 miles, exhibiting in that
long course little or no variation in quality, thickness, or di-
rection, and they therefore attest the magnitude of the scale
on which the disrupting forces had operated. Though proof
of a like special character cannot be yet offered of dislocations
along the Great Glen of Scotland, yet it may be generally
affirmed of every district abounding in granite and porphyry,
as is the case in the Great Glen, and particularly along its
north side and at its west extremity (where the shocks have
been most frequent), that great disturbance must have been
produced by the outburst of these igneous rocks ; and, in
fact, it is generally admitted that the whole slate- series of the

284 Mr D. Milne on Earthquake' Shocks in Great Britain^

Highlands owes its elevation to the outburst of these primi-
tive traps. Nor is it unimportant here to remark, that in
Calabria,* Pignerol,-)- Connecticut^^ the Caraccas,§ and other
countries where earthquake-shocks have been both frequent
and severe, the rocks are generally primitive, abounding also
in ancient porphyries. According to Daubeny, the volcanoes
of Auvergne, Cantal, Styria, and the Canaries, are situated in
granitic rocks. 1|

It is true that in several parts of England, where shocks
have been very frequent, as in the southern counties, and in
Derbyshire, rocks of this character do not prevail. But in
these districts there occur numerous and extensive " faults"
which must go deep into the bowels of the globe. For ex-
ample, each of the Tyndale and Craven faults in Yorkshire
runs from at least fifty to sixty miles ; and several of them
have produced a vertical displacement of the earth'*s crust to
the extent of from 3000 to 4000 feet. In the South Wales
coal-field, there is an axis of dislocation which runs from the
Bristol Channel through the Mendip Hills and Somersetshire,
and " in the line of its projection to the east is the coeval dis-
turbance of the coal from near Boulogne, through Belgium
and Westphalia, and in the south of Ireland."1[ One of the
faults in the Colebrookedale coal-field has been shewn by Mr
Prestwick to manifest a vertical displacement of no less than
1000 feet.* * Then, again, in the south-east coast of England,
there are two great axes of elevation running east and west,
the one through the Isle of Wight, and the other dividing
the London from the Hampshire basin, both of which have
been traced into the continent, and have, in all parts of their
extensive course, produced great vertical movements. This
series of faults, still preserving the same general direction,
has been traced by M. De la Beche, through Devonshire and
Cornwall.

* Pinkerton's Voyages, vol. v., p. 282. t Journ. de Phys., t. 67.
X Silliman's American Journal of Science, xxxix. p. 341.

§ Humboldt's Person. Narr., vol. iii. p. 4.

II Daubeny on Volcanoes, p. 384.

% Phillip's Treatise on Geology, p. 115.

• « Silurian System, vol» iii., p. 110.

and especially in f^cotland. 285

Thus, then, it appears that in tliose districts, both of Eng-
land and of Scotland, where earthquake-shocks are most fre-
quent, there are rents which cut through the solid ribs of the
earth's crust, and reach down into its unfathomable recesses ;
affording, therefore, a medium of communication between
the forces (whatever they are) which there exist, and the ex-
ternal agents of the atmosphere.

It is here not undeserving of notice, that the direction in
which the pulsations accompanying earthquake-shocks are pro-
pagated, is, in most instances, coincident with the direction
of these fissures. Thus, on looking at the notices in the re-
gister of shocks in those parts of England situate to the south
of a line drawn between the mouths of the Severn and the
Thames, it will be found that, almost without exception,
the shocks were felt, and the undulations seen to move. East
and West, which is the direction of the great lines of fault.*
In Anglesea, North Wales, and Cheshire, where the dykes
and slips run NW. and SE., the vibrations are in the great
majority of cases stated to have been in the same direction.-f*
In Lincolnshire, and near the Humber, where the hills range
N. and S., the shocks are said to have been felt most in that
direction. t The shocks on 19th April 1754, 14th Septem-
ber 1777, and 19th November 1795, seem to have been felt
in a direction NE. and SW., which is parallel with the faults
that traverse that part of the country (between York and Man-
chester) most affected by them.

One explanation of this remarkable parallelism of the direc-
tion of the shocks, and the line of the principal faults, is sug-
gested by the difficulty with which the vibrations would be

* See, in proof of this remark, the shocks dated 25th October 1707, 8th
February, 9th February, 8th and 18th March 1750, 29th December 1769,
8th September 1773, 8th September 1775, and 23d January 1834. In refer-
ence to the shock of 8th March 1750 here mentioned, it may bo observed,
that Michell takes notice of another in London which occurred in tho pre-
ceding century, which ho was informed by an eye-witness moved also East
and West ; " being by accident in a scalemaker's shop when it happened, he
obsers'ed that all tho scales vibrated from cast to west" — (Phil. Tram, for
1760, p. 575.)

t See, in proof of this remark, the shocks dated 2d April 1750, 18th Janu-
ary 1768, 28th August 1780, and 29th August 1791.

X See notices dated 23d August 1750, and 1st August 1751.

VOL. XXXI. NO. LXII.— OCTOBER 1841. T

286 Mr D. Milne on Earthquake- Shocks in Great Br i tain,

transmitted across these faults.* Evidently they must be
transmitted more readily along parts which are unbroken and
compact than along parts that are shattered. They must,
therefore, be most extensively and strongly felt in directions
parallel with the faults and dykes.

But this explanation does not meet all the conditions of the
question. It accounts sufficiently well for the direction in
which the vibrations are propagated, but it does not account
for the frequency of shocks in particular districts of country,
namely, those districts which are most shattered by dykes and
faults. If, as most geologists believe, earthquakes are caused
by the development of some mechanical power beneath the
earth's crust (whether exerted by elastic vapour or a heated
nucleus), it is evident, that this power will produce the great-
est effect on those parts which are the least able to resist it.
On that hypothesis, it is easy to understand how the upheav-
ing forces should obtain vent only or chiefly in those districts
which, in consequence of extensive dislocations, are capable of
most easily yielding ; and how the indications of these forces
should be most distinct along the lines of dislocations. The
same result must follow, on the hypothesis that earthquake-
shocks are caused by the relation which the state of the at-
mosphere bears to the state of the earth's nucleus ; and that
a communication between them is effected, by the fissures which
reach from the surface to the interior of the earth. These are
the two most probable hypotheses to account for the produc-
tion of earthquakes ; and in both of them, it is manifest how it
is that the shocks should be most frequent where deep and
extensive dislocations prevail.

6. On glancing over the register, it will be found that the
shocks seldom occur single, and that there are generally tivo
in quick succession, as is well shewn under dates May 173G,
12th March 1795, September 1801, and August 181G.

But farther, it deserves attention, as is well indicated by Mr
Gilfillan^s Comrie register, that the shocks come very fre-
quently in groups^ i. e., there w^as a succession of them for
many days, and sometimes for several weeks, the strongest or

* In the notice of the shocks along the sea-coast of Hampshire in 1707,
it is specially stated, that it was "not felt at all to the north of the Downs/*
u e.f oB the north side of the fault which traverses that district.

and especiatli/ in Scotland. 287

most severe being generally at the commencement of the
scries.

7. The shocks are invariably accompanied by sounds.

The sounds are of two kinds. One resembles an explosion,
which has been variously compared to a discharge of artillery
or the blast of a quarry. The other resembles a rushing or
whizzing noise. J3oth arc described as being in the atmo-
sphere. Some examples of each may now be specially refer-
red to.

(1.) The Explosion. — Dr Stephen Hales relates his sensations
during the earthquake of 8th March 1750. He " perceptibly
felt his bed heave. There was also a hollow, obscure, rushing
noise in the house, which ended in a loud explosion up in the
air, like that of a small cantion. The soldiers who were in St
James Park, and others who were then up, saw a blackish
cloud with considerable lightning, just before the earthquake
began. It was also very calm weather."*

In describing the earthquake of 30th September 1750, the
same author states, that persons " were suddenly surprised
with an uncommon noise in the air, like the rolling of large
carriages in the streets, for about twenty seconds. At the same
instant, they felt a great shock or snap, which sensibly shook
a punch-bowl and made it ring."t

Under date 18th November 1756, when an earthquake in
Argyleshire is noticed, the shock is stated to have been pre-
ceded by a noise like thunder, at a great distance in the air.
When the Comrie earthquakes commenced, the inhabitants
attributed the noise which they produced to the firing of can-
non at Dunira.t Farther illustrations will be found in the
register, under dates 8th and 18th March 1750, August 1755,
June 1756, March 1792, and August 1834.

(2.) The Bushing or Whizzing Sound. — Under date in the re-
gister of January 1787, it will be seen that a rushing noise in
the air preceded the shock, though it was then calm. Sir
Thomas Lauder mentions, in his account of the earthquake in
1816, that a man, who at the moment of its occurrence was

* Discourses on Earthquakes, p. 243. t Ibid. p. 263.

X This circumstance was mentioned in Mr Gilfillan's letter to Sir Thomas
Lauder, which was to have b3cn quoted at length ; but in the course of
printing this Memoir, the letter has unfortunately been lost or mislaid.

288 Mr D. Milne on Ear Ikquakc' Shocks in Great Britain^

travelling on foot among the mountains south of Relugas, was
first alarmed by a sudden and tremendous "noise of a rushing
wind, which came sweeping up the hills like a roar of water.
This was instantly followed by the rumbling sound or rhombo,
and the ground was then sensibly heaved up and down under
his feet." During the earthquake felt in Perthshire, on 1st
March 1831, it is related, that the sound resembled a sudden
gust of wind, though it was calm at the time. During the earth-
quakes at Leicester, on 30th September 1750, and 6th Novem-
ber 1764, in Yorkshire in April 1754, the shocks were attended
with a rushing sound of the air. During the earthquake in
May 1773, it is related, that, though calm and serene, a sud-
den gust of wind (apparently) beat against the \Yindows, as if a
great quantity of small shot had been thrown against them
with violence. In the earthquake of November 1755, it is
stated, that, though there was no wind, a whizzing gust in the
air was felt immediately before the shock. Another observer
says, '' we were all extremely surprised and alarmed at a sud-
den blast (rather than explosioii) which burst out instantane-
ously, and which seemed to rush through the air with great
velocity, and to meet with considerable resistance to its mo-
tion ; for it made a whizzing noise as it passed over us."
Under date 8th June 1753, it is mentioned that the " shock
was accompanied and succeeded by a rushing noise and explo-
sion like gunpowder fired in the open air." Farther notices
to the same effect will be found under dates December 1703,
30th September 1750, 6th November 1764, and September
1833.

That the *' tremblement" of the district affected by a shock
must of itself produce a considerable noise cannot be disputed.
The jar or tremor in the rocks must communicate a vibration
to the air in contact with them. Whether this circumstance
will entirely explain the phenomena just related, may fairly
admit of a question. What other explanation may be sug-
gested, will more properly be afterwards considered, when
additional phenomena have been described.

8. The next circumstance suggested by an inspection of the
register, is, that the shocks are more severe and more frequent
in certain months of the year, than in others. Of the 139
Scotch, and the 116 English earthquakes there recorded, the

and especially in Scotland, 289

numbers now to be mentioned have occurred in these several

months —

Scotland. England. Total.

January, 14 11

February, 14 13 }. 74 in threo Winter months.

March, 12 10

April, 9 10

May, 8 4 I 44 in three Spring months.

4 l44i]
9 J

5 J

12 I 79

7 J

June, 4

July, 6 5

August, 12 9 J. 50 in three Summer months.

September, 12 1

October, 14

November, 20 12 J. 79 in three Autumn months.

December, 15

139 116

From this statement, it appears that in Scotland the numbers
of shocks during the six summer months, from April to Septem-
ber inclusive, was fifty, and in the rest of the year eighty-nine.
That, in like manner, in England the numbers of shocks dur-
ing the six summer months was fifty-two, and during the six
winter months, sixty-four.

From recent catalogues and classifications of the same kind,
constructed by continental writers, these inferences are ve-
rified in a very remarkable manner. The results which they
have separately arrived at, from registers of earthquake-shocks,
ranging over very diff'erent periods of time, may here be stated.
In explanation of the folloN'sing table, it requires to be men-
tioned that Von Hoff's register* includes earthquake-shocks,
and volanic eruptions in all parts of the globe north of the
equator, and extends from the year 1821 to 1830 inclusive;
that Professor Merian'st catalogue applies only to shocks at
Basle, and extends from the 10th to a part of the 19th cen-
turies inclusive ; — and that M. Alexis Perreyt of Dijon, has
published his catalogue only down to the year 1583, commenc-
ing with the year a. d. 306.

* Annalcn der Physik und Chemie, vol. xxxiv., p. 104. Von Iloflfs re-
gister includes some shocks and eruptions on the south side of the equator j
but these arc not taken into account in the table in the tgxti

t Ibid. p. 108.

\ Comptes licndues, tome xii., p 1 185,

290 Mr D. Milne 07i Earthquake-Shocks in Great Britain^

Vo>

HOFF.

Merian.

Pekrey.

Total.

. During the

Shocks.

Eruptions.

Shocks.

Shocks.

Three Autumn months.

101

G

40

55

jsso

Three Winter months,

9«

5

32

43

Three Spring months,

95

2

19

39

208

Three Summer months,

75

3

27

38

It may now, therefore, be held as conclusively established,
that an intimate connection exists between the state of the at-
mosphere and the frequency of earthquake-shocks. What the
nature, and, still more, what may be the cause of that con-
nection, it would be premature to inquire, before all the phe-
nomena which bear on the subject have been explained and con-
sidered. Some of these phenomena will now be mentioned.

9. Whatever may be the time of the year in which shocks
occur in this country, the weather has been at or about the
time of their occurrence generally warm, and what is termed
ctose^ or suttry.

During the winter of 1749-50, which was followed by an
unusual number of earthquakes in the south of England, the
weather was remarked as *' extraordinary " for warmth. *' The
warmth on some days, especially on the 13th February, was
greater than in the previous June." On the 8th February,
the day of the shock, the air is represented as " very hazy and
warm at the time.""*

It is stated that, at Plymouth, from the beginning of June
to the 15th July 1757, when an earthquake occurred along the
south-west coasts of England, the weather was very warm, dry,
and occasionally excessively hot. On the 11th, 12th, and 13th
July, Fahr. thermometer in the shade was not less than 87°,
at three p.m. ; and on the 12th, it was 88°. In London, the
thermometer, between the 10th and 15th July, was as high as
85° (viz. on the 14th), and not lower than 80°.t

Under date August 1786, it is noted, that, *< on the preced-
ing evening, the weather was so close and sultry, as to render
breathing oppressive."

At the time of the Chichester earthquake in September
1833, " the air was very sultry, warm, and still." In the one
which occurred at the same place, on 23d January 1834, it is

* Phil©8. Trans, for 1700.

t Ibid, for 1757, p. 428.

and especially in Scotland, 291

mentioned, that the " morning of the previous day was rainy,
foggy, and warm. The same humid weather prevailed up to the
close of January, and the season was a fortnight nearly in ad-
vance up to end of March." " The temperature of the ground,''
it is added, " was unprecedentedly high for mid- winter, and
the water in the wells 2° above the average."

Mr Gilfillan has the following entry in his journal, in de-
scribing the Comrie earthquake of 2d January 1795, which
happened at 1 hour 50 minutes a. m. " The preceding even-
ing was clear and frosty. The air was impregnated with hoar-
frost, which fell upon the earth in great quantities. The win-
dows of my chamber were incrusted with it when I went to
bed. Immediately after the shock, I looked at the glass, and
saw the hoar-frost was melted. The wind began to blow a
little from the N.NW., about 1^ hour after the concussion,
and I have always observed that the wind is N. or NW. during
our earthquakes."*

Notices to the same effect will be found under dates Decem-
ber 170S, July 1795, 18th September 1801, and December
1826.

10. Fogs have attracted attention, as 2i frequent attendant on
earthquakes.

In the accounts given of the Lisbon earthquake of 1st No-
vember 1755, it is mentioned, that, on the preceding day, at
Colares, the weather was " uncommonly warm for the season,
the wind north, from which quarter, about 4 p. m., there
arose a/<9^ which came from the sea, and covered the valleys,
a thing rare at this season of the year. Soon after, the wind
changing to the east, the fog returned to the sea, collecting
itself and becoming exceeding thick. The 1st November, the
day broke with a serene sky, the wind continuing at east ;
but about 9 a. m. the sun began to grow dim, and about half
an hour after was heard a rumbling noise like that of chariots,
which increased to such a degree as to equal that of the loud-
est cannon, and immediately a shock of an earthquke was
felt."t At Lisbon, in like manner, it is noticed, that, on " the
31st October, the atmosphere and light of the sun had the ap-

* Edinburgh Courant of 10th January 1705.
t Discourses on Dortbquakes; p. 312.

292 Mr D, Milne on Earthquake'Shocks i?t Great Britain,

pearance of clouds, with a notable defuscation. The 1st No-
vember, early in the morning, a thick fo^ arose."*

It is stated by an eye-witness, that, at Lisbon, the earth-
quake of 31st March 1761 was followed next morning by
''^reat/o//s:'f

The Chichester earthquakes of November 1833 and January
1834 are stated to have been preceded by thick fogs ; and,
with regard to the former, it is specially mentioned, that the
thick fog preceding it was recognised as " precisely similar
to the fog which accompanied the Lisbon earthquakes in 1807
and 1816."

Under date August 1786, it is mentioned, that, on the even-
ing preceding the shock, " a thick fog came on."

11. The next phenomenon deserving of notice in this place,
is the appearance o£ a Jine powder, or dust, covering consider-
able districts of country^ which is thought to be connected with
earthquake-shocks.

Two cases of this class are mentioned in the register, under
dates October 20. and 23. 1755, and February 1837.

The first case is explained by an eruption of K6tlugia,*a
volcanic mountain in the south side of Iceland, which took
place on the 17th October 1755, and continued till the 7th
November 1 755. It is stated that a column of fire rose from
the crater which was seen at the distance of 180 miles, and
the atmosphere was so filled with smoke and ashes, that the
adjacent parishes were in a state of complete darkness.^

The other case has not received any explanation, and per-
haps it might not be thought worthy of any attention, were it
not that the phenomenon (if such it may be called) has seve-
ral times since been observed, with the additional circumstance,
that the dust or powder has been found covering considerable
districts of country. The subsequent cases now alluded to hav-
ing occurred after September 1839 (when the register ^tops),
they will not be farther noticed at present, falling more properly
to be afterwards described, with the continuation of the regis-
ter. Meanwhile, it may be observed that the powder which
was observed in Stratherne was (as stated in the Register) not

* Discourses on Earthquakes, p. 315, t Philos. Trans, for 17G2, p. 423.
J Henderson's Iceland, i. 314.

and especially in Scotland, 298

confined to the waters of the loch, but was found on the land,
and at a distance of several miles from it.* It must have fal-
len, therefore, in the atmosphere, and was not, as some persons
suggested, washed into the loch from the adjoining peat-bogs.
A small portion of the water from Loch Earne, containing the
powder, having been submitted to Professor Conhell, the fol-
lowing note shews the result of his examination.

" I have examined, in a general way^ the small quantity sent to me of
the black powder with which Loch Earne was covered. When heated
with access of air, it glows and is consumed, leaving a somewhat bulky,
but light and flocky, ash of a grey colour. This ash yields to heated
muriatic acid, a trace of the metallic oxide, which seems to be iron, and
a still feebler trace of lime, and the residue consists of siliceous-looking
particles. When the ignition takes place in a close tube, and lime-water
is introduced, it becomes very milky by agitation. It is thus evident that
the powder is essentially carbonaceous, with some siliceous admixture.
I am quite unable to offer any definite ^opinion as to the origin of such a
substance in such a situation.

" After I had examined it, I got your note, asking me if I could say
' that it was not soot.' The word soot, in a chemical sense, is somewhat
indefinite, as the nature of that substance varies according to the com-
bustible from which it proceeds. Thus lamp-black is almost entirely
carbon, whilst the soot of wood fires contains, besides combustible mat-
ter, certain quantities of soluble and insoluble salts. Hence, almost, any
fine black carbonaceous powder may he soot from some source or another;
and this observation might, I think, apply in the present instance, al-
though I should be far from saying that it was so, particularly in the ab-
sence of any known burning source on a large scale in the neighbourhood
from which it might be derived. The somewhat considerable quantity

* The following extract from the Edinburgh Weekly Journal newspaper,
of date 15th February 1837, gives some further information regarding tho
occurrence in question, than what is in the register. " Remarkable Fact.
On Wednesday last (8th February) Locherne,in Perthshire, was observed lo
bo covered by a black scum, Avhich spread in a thin film over its surface. O n
Thursday morning, this had removed from tho central parts and collected
near the sides, where part of it Avas deposited on tho sands in the form of
black paste, which, when taken up in the hands, was not easily waslied off
again, and rendered tlie Avater (usually remarkably pure) totally unfit for use.
About the same time, at the farm of Miggar, eiglitor nine miles from Loch-
erne, some clothes that had been left out all night to bleach were next morn-
ing covered with black dew of a biniilar kind. AVas this phenomenon ob-
served in other piurts of the country, and can it have any connection with tho
pi*csont uoxious state of the atmospheres I"

294 Mr D. Milne on Earthquake- Shocks in Great Britain,

and chemical nature of tho ash seems also rather against this view; but
the siliceous particles may be in part adventitious. Yours sincerely,

" Arthur Connell."
I J' I7th A2>nl 1840."

11. Fain appears to be a frequent co7icomitant of earthquake-
shocks in this country, though indiscriminately before and after
them, as well as during the time of their occurrence.

For examples of excessive vdin^ preceding strong shocks, see
the dates December 1797, August 1816, and January 1834.

For an example of excessive rain during the occurrence as
well as before a shock, see the account of the earthquake of
August 1786.

For examples of excessive rains after shocks^ reference may
be made to Mr Gilfillan''s account of the one on 7th Septem-
ber 1801. He remarks, that though the weather had been
previously good, it has become wet since, as generally hap-
pens after earthquakes. Sir Thomas Lauder, in his account
of the Inverness earthquake of August 1816, mentions, that
though the summer of that year had been very wet and stormy,
the weather on the day preceding the shock was fine and still ;
but on the day succeeding it, a thick rain came on, which con-
tinued to fall incessantly for above sixty hours ; and, indeed,
during the whole of the ensuing month, " there was hardly
any fair weather."

An author, who, under the name of Philotheus, published,
in 1748, a history of Earthquakes, referring to one felt at Ox-
ford (England) on 17th September 1683 (noticed in the regis-
ter), says, that " the latter part of the first week of September
was so rainy, that some apprehended a deluge."

The same observation, that earthquake-shocks generally ac-
company rainy weather, and are most frequently preceded by
it, has been made in foreign countries, which shews that the
coincidence is not accidental. Thus Dolemieu, in describing
the Calabrian earthquakes of February 1783, mentions, that
" the autumn of 1782 and the winter of 1783 were very rainy."*
Drake, in his account of the Cincinnati (United States) earth-
quakes, which continued from December 1811 for nearly a

• Pinkerton's Voyagos, vol. v. p. 296,

and especially in Scotland, 295

year, states, " there was a greater flood in the Mississippi in the
summer of 1811 than had occurred for fifteen years before.
Between St Louis and New Madrid, many parts of the valley
were extensively overflown.""* In Chili, the seasons for rainy
and dry weather are remarkably certain and regular. But, on
many occasions, this state of things has been entirely altered
when violent earthquake-shocks occurred. By the earthquake
of 19th November 1822, the coast of Chili, for a distance of
fifty miles, was raised generally three feet, and in some places
four feet. Mier, in reference to this earthquake, states, that
" on the night of 27th November it rained heavily, to the sur-
prise and astonishment of all. Rain at that season is most
unusual. It had never before been known in the month of
November."t

12. The barometer, when observed, appears, with only one
or two exceptions, to have been generally below its averaye
level, when shocks were severe ov frequent.

In proof of this remark, reference may be made to the no-
tice in the Register, dated 14th September 1777, where it is
mentioned, that the barometer fell a few lines at the time of
the shock, and rose immediately after.

It is said, that, on the 10th November 1782, the barometer
in Scotland sank to within ^^gth of the bottom of the scale,
which probably means 27.1 inches. On the same day, Loch
Rannoch was violently agitated. This circumstance has gene-
rally been attributed to the influence of the Calabrian earth-
quakes ; but they did not commence till some months after-
wards,— when volcanic eruptions took place likewise in Ice-
land, on a great scale.

It is noted, that, on 5th November 1789, when a severe shock
was felt at Comrie, the barometer rose and fell several times
during the day, and next morning a violent storm commenced
which continued for twenty-four hours.

In the Leeds earthquake of 1795, it is related that the baro-
meter for thirty-six hours preceding the shock had varied very
remarkably. On the day before, it was 30.23 inches. On

* Drake's Account of Cincinnati, 1815, p. 239.
t Micr's ChUi, vol. i. p. 38U.

296 Mr D. Milne on Earthquake-Shocks in Great Britain^

the morning of the shock, it had sunk to 28.63 inches, being a
subsidence of more than 1^ inch.

During the earthquake of September 1801, it is mentioned
that " the barometer fell suddenly."

On the 25th December 1821, there was a remarkable de-
pression of the barometer in every part of Europe. It was
noticed in Scotland, Germany, France, and Switzerland.* It
was accompanied with violent storms, with lightning and nume-
rous meteors. On the same day " a slight shock of an earthquake
was felt at Mayence.''* But what is more material, there was
at the same time a series of terrible eruptions in Iceland. The
old volcano of Eyefjeld Jokkul, which had been quiet since
1612, broke out on the 19th December 1821, and continued
in eruption till June 1822. In Iceland, the barometer began
to fall on the 18th December, and continued falling till the
26th December.t

There was a shock of earthquake in Scotland in March
1831, and it will be seen that the barometer was lower during
the succeeding month than in any other of the same year. A
similar fact is recorded in the register, under date 20th March
1833.

In the account of the Chichester earthquakes, in January
1834, the barometer is described as having been " in an inter-
mittent state" during the preceding month.

The only other notices bearing on this point will be found
under dates 11th August 1786 and 1st November 1755. In
the last-mentioned case (viz. a depression of the barometer to
the extent of 2 inchesj at Amsterdam, during the Lisbon
earthquake), it is possible that the fall may have been occa-
sioned by an upward motion of the earth, which, owing to the
great inertia of mercury, would cause a flow into the cistern.

* The amount of depression at different places will be found in the Edin-
burgh Philosophical Journal for 1822, vol. vi. p. 384 and vol. vii. p. 182.

t Ditto, p. 156.

I The following is the account given of this occurrence by the anony-'
mous author of the work so often referred to, entituled '* History and Phi-
losophy of Earthquakes," on p. 309. Among other phenomena at Amster-
dam he states, that " the mercury, which stood pretty high in the barome-
ters, descTunded almost an inch, as it were, at once," Othgr accounts repre«
scut the dcprcsaiou us greater.

and especially in Scotland. 297

In describing the shock of 18th February 1786 (noticed
in the register as having been felt in this country as well as
abroad), Bertrand states,* that at St Quentin in France, and at
Berne in Switzerland, at both of which places the shocks seem
to have been distinct, if not severe, the barometer was parti-
cularly low.

It may here be added, as a circumstance probably connected
with the depression of the barometer about the time of earth-
quake-shocks, that the atmosphere seems then to be in that pe-
culiar state which is almost always characterized by a depres-
sion. For example, Bertrand, in describing the phenomena in
France of the earthquake just alluded to, says, " Ce tremble-
ment, presque par-tout, a ete suivie, quelques heures apres, d*un
aifreux orage, qui a cause beaucoup de dommages. C'etait un
vent du Sud-sud-ouest. C'est a 8 heures du soir, qu'il souffloit
avec le plus de violence. On apper9ut encore alors, en divers
lieux, quelques secousses." It was then, as may be perceived
from the note below, that the barometer was lowest.

In the account given in the Philosophical Transactions for
1757, of the earthquake which occurred on the 15th July of
that year, it is stated, that, on the preceding day, at 11 a. m.,
there was along the SW. coast of England, where chiefly the
shock was felt, *' a most violent hurricane, which lasted five
or six minutes."

Whilst the specific instances that have been adduced, afford
evidence that the barometer is below its usual average when
earthquake-shocks are occurring, there is a general remark
which tends in no inconsiderable degree to confirm that con •
elusion. It is well known that the average height of the ba-
rometer is always lowest during that part of the year (viz.
during the six winter months) when, as already shewn, earth-
quake-shocks are most frequent. Not only is the barometer
then lowest, but it is also subject to greater vacillation than

* Histoirc Naturelle, p. 303. His words are, in regard to St Quentin —
" Le vent ctait Quest, peu violent, — le baromctre fort bas :" — In regard to
Beme, *' Le barometre ctait excessivement bas, et le thermoni^lre extraor-
dinairement liaut. Celui la etait \ 8 heures du soir a 25 pouces, b\ lignes,
seulemcnt domi-ligne au dessus du terme le plus bas. Le 19 a G heures du
matin, le thermometro avoit descendu do I04 degre's."

298 Mr D. Milne on Earthquake-Shocks in Great Britain^

at any other season. " On an average of three years (says
the writer of the article Meteorology in Brewster's Encyclo-
paedia) we have found that, for the six months beginning with
April and ending with September, the mean monthly range
of the barometer is to that of the six months in the propor-
tion of five to eight." It will be remembered that the earth-
quake-shocks in this and in other European countries are, dur-
ing the same six months of summer, less than during the rest
of the year, in very nearly the same proportion.

Mr Gilfillan of Comrie seems to have thought, that earth-
quake-shocks there were very frequent about the time of new
and full moon, as may be seen from the extracts given in the
register under dates May 1793 and 21st March 1795. This
opinion, if well founded, would afford an additional confirma-
tion, though a slender one, of the connection between earth-
quake-shocks and a diminished atmospheric pressure ; as it
has been ascertained that the barometer is slightly lower than
usual, at these periods of the moon's age.*

In the earthquakes of foreign countries, it has been so fre-
quently noticed that the barometer fell at or about the time
of the shocks, that it is scarcely possible to doubt the connec-
tion between the two phenomena. Thus Humboldt, writing
at Cumana in South America, relates, that, " on the 18th
August 1799, I was struck at finding the absolute height of
the barometer a little less than usual. There was on that day
eleven strong shocks of an earthquake at Carupano, twenty-
two leagues east from Cumana.''t In describing the pheno-
mena accompanying the earthquake which happened in the
evening of 4th November 1799, the same intelligent observer
says, " The barometer was lower than usual, but the course
or progress of the horary variations or little atmospheric tides
was in no respect interrupted. The mercury was j)f^ci8ely at
its minimum height, at the moment of the third and last shock,

* Mr Luke Howard, on comparing the barometrical averages of eighteen
years preceding 1832 with the moon's declination, " thinks there is evi-
dence of a great tidal wave or swell in the atmosphere, caused by the moon's
attraction, preceding her in her approach to, and following her slowly as she
recedes from, these latitudes." (Philosophical Magazine for July 1841,
p. 553.)

t Humboldt, vol. ii. p, 31C.

and especially/ in Scotland. 299

(at 9 p. M.). It continued to rise till 11 p. m., and then fell
again toward 4^^ a. m., according to its usual law."*'

The French academicians, in relating the earthquakes of
Pignerol in 1808, state the following fact, " Le General Me-
nou, ayant entendu le 17th Avril, le bruit precurseur d'une
secousse, alia de suite examiner le barometre. II vit le mer-
cure descendre rapidement a Tinstant de la secousse, et en-
suite remonter/'* Mr Darwin mentions, that "just before the
earthquake of November 1822, the mercury in the barometer
(at Valparaiso) sank beneath the graduated part," and there-
fore, as he explains, beneath 26 inches. He adds this remark,
that, " considering these circumstances, and especially the
unquestionable fact of rain frequently following severe earth-
quakes, even at the most unusual seasons, I cannot conclude
otherwise than that there exists some connection between the
subterranean and atmospheric disturbances, of which we are at
present quite ignorant." t

13. But there are several other meteorological phenomena,
indicating a disturbed state of the atmosphere^ which have been
frequently observed at or about the time of earthquake-shocks.

(1.) Gusts nmH Lidls of Wind. — Mr Gilfillan, in reference to
the earthquake at Comrie of 10th October 1792, says, " The
weather had been with us, as I believe all over Scotland, for a
good while past, uncommonly variable and boisterous, and had
verged from high gusts of wind to a deep calm, for one or two
days before the earthquake. The air was hazy and moist,
much like the appearance of the sky before thunder ; and it
is a remarkable fact, that the earthquake and its concomitant
noises, if I am not mistaken, always happen in calm weather.
We have of late also had frequent and heavy rains." J In the
register, under date December 1703, it is mentioned, that
though a little before the shock there was " a violent storm,"
it was calm at the moment of its occurrence. Other curious
instances of the same general fact are given in the register,
under dates 25th February, and May 1793 ; 18th October and

* Journal de Physique, tome Ixvii. p. 292.
t Vogage of the Beagle, vol. ii. p. 433.

X Memoir of the Rev. Samuel Gilfillan by his son, in which a few ex-
tracts ai'o given from Mr GilfiUan'e private journal, p. 1\,

300 Mr D. Milne 07i Earthquake- Shocks in Great Britain^

3d and 30th December 1794 ; November 1795 ; 24th Febru-
ary 1799 ; September 1801 ; August 1816 ; and 23d January
1834.

On the 27th August 1834, when a shock occurred, a " whirl-
wind'' was remarked.

(2.) Thunder^ and especially lightning, often precedes shocks.
On 10th October 1731, a great flash was seen a minute after
one. On 1st July 1747, one was seen at the very moment of
a shock. On the 8th March 1750, lightning is stated to have
been seen a minute or two before. During the earthquake of
18th August 1816, a flash was seen at Montrose immediately
after the shock. On the 22d October 1821, when an earth-
quake in the Highlands occurred, it is mentioned* that *' the
day was rainy and lowering ; and about four o'clock there was
a loud and continual peal of thunder, with some vivid flashes
of lightning." Other examples will be found under dates 8th
October 1731, Feb. 1750, and 23d January 1834.

These accounts are entirely accordant with the observations
which have been made during volcanic eruptions. Thus it is
related, that, during the eruption of Kotlugia in 1756, before
referred to, the lightning was very violent, and killed several
persons.t During the earthquake which destroyed Caraccas
in 1812, though the evening was cloudless, there was a con-
tinued glare of vivid flashes of lightning, and of repeated peals
of subterranean thunder, all of which (including the flashes)
seemed to issue from below the horizon.]: Humboldt,§ in de-
scribing the phenomena attendant on the earthquake of Cu-
mana on 4th Nov. 1799, states, that there was a thunder-storm,
and " at the moment of the strongest electric explosion, there
were two shocks of an earthquake, which followed at 15" from
each other. A few minutes before the first shock, there was a
very violent blast of wind, followed by an electrical rain in great
drops. The electrometer of Volta was strongly aff*ected. The
sky remained cloudy, and the blast of wind was followed by a

* Edin. Philos. Journ. for 1022, vol. vi. p. 192.

t Henderson's Iceland, vol. i. p. 314 ?

I Silliman's Journal for January 1029.

§ Personal Narrative. English Transl, vol. ii. p. 31C.

and especially in Scotland. 301

dead calm, which lasted all night.'** In some of the eruptions
of Vesuvius, forked lightning has been seen not only issuing
from but entering the crater.

(3.) Meteors and balls of fire are recorded as having been
seen under the following dates, when shocks were felt, 8th
March 1750, October 1755, November 1795, August 1816,
and 20th February 1818. In August 1755, on the day after
a severe shock at Stamford, " a large ball of fire" was seen,
and continued visible for seven or eight minutes.

These notices, also, are in accordance with what has been
observed in foreign countries, both volcanic and non-volcanic.
Thus in describingf the earthquake-shocks which occurred
daily in Pignerol between 2d April and 12th May 1808, the
French academicians mention, that, on the 11th April, a lu-
minous meteor was seen of a globular form, and which de-
scended without detonation. On the 15th April, and at the
very moment when several strong shocks were felt, four night
watchmen suddenly found themselves illumined by a vivid
light, which issued from a meteor resembling in form a stake.
On two other days, electrical meteors of different descriptions
were noticed.

A violent tornado is described as having devastated Charles-
ton in South Carolina, on the 10th September 1811. " In the
interval between this calamity and the concussions of the earth
(the first of which occurred on the 16th December 1811), va-
rious meteors and balls of fire, of different sizes and appear-
ances, were observed. One of them, of a magnitude calcu-
lated to excite alarm, was seen by spectators who were an
hundred miles asunder, about 3 p. m. on 21st November, mov-
ing with great rapidity. It illuminated the ground and the sur-

* Sir William Hamilton, in his account of the eruptions of Vesuvius in
1779, says, that " for some time after the eruption had ceased, the air conti-
nued greatly impregnated with electrical matter. The Duke of Cotrosiano,
a Neapolitan nobleman (who, from his superior knowledge in experimental
philosophy and mechanics, docs honour to his country), told me, that having,
about half an hour after the great eruption had ceased, held a Leyden bottle
armed with a pointed wire, out of his window at Naples, it soon became
considerably charged." Sir William particularly notices the " volcanic
lightning," which was manifested near the crater during the eruption, (rm««-
actiom of Land. lioy. Soc, Ixx., p. 58.)

t Journal do Physique, tome Ixvii.

VOL. XXXI. NO. LXII,— OCTOBER 1841. V

302 Mr D. Milne on Earthquake- Shocks in Great Britain,

face of the waters, as if a torch of burning matter had been pass-
ing over them." * Meteors were seen to accompcany the earth-
quakes which occurred on 2d February 1776 in Rhode Island,
and in November of the same year in South Carolina." f

It is mentioned in Mier'^s Chile, J that in four hours after
the severe earthquake of 19th November 1822, a luminous
meteor was seen, in apparent size little less than the moon.
It left behind it a long train of light, and afterwards seemed
to explode. It is added, that in most of the Chilean earth-
quakes such meteors are seen.

(4.) Frequent and vivid displays of the aurora borealis
are noticed as having been remarked in this country, at and
about the time of earthquake-shocks. See in particular the
notices under date 2d April and 23d August 1750, 24th Feb-
ruary 1759, 24th September 1816, and September 1833.

The various meteorological phenomena just enumerated, as
having been frequently and indeed usually observed at or
about the time of earthquake-shocks, lead plainly to the infe-
rence, that there is, during their occurrence, a great develop-
ment of electricity. Indeed, there are several cases, where
this is not left to be inferred. Thus, on the 14tli September
1777, when a severe shock occurred, it is mentioned that " a
lady felt a stroke on the top of her head, as if of electricity."
When the earthquake of 18th November 1795 occurred, lu-
minous appearances and some remarkable clouds were seen,
which convinced the spectators that they were " occasioned by
electric light, with which the clouds were highly charged." It is
added, that '•' many persons felt something like an electrical
shock," — " and several persons in delicate health passed the
night (of the earthquake) in a restless uneasy manner, with-
out knowing why."" It is related that, on the 6th and 7th Sep-
tember 1801, on both of which days shocks occurred, the at-
mosphere was apparently much charged with electricity.

These notices, no doubt, describe only the impressions and
sensations of individuals. But reliance in them is increased, on
finding tliat, in other countries, electrical instruments have given

* Account by Mr Tartt, given in Edinburgh Philososphical Journal of
1820, vol. ii. p. 300.
t Amprican Journal of Science for 1840, p. 336. % Vol. i. p. 388,

and especially in Scotland. 305

precisely similar indications. Reference has already been made
to Humboldt*s authority, that his electrometer was strongly
affected during the earthquake of Cumana in November 1799.
In like manner, during the Pignerol earthquakes, before al-
luded to, it is stated that, on the 10th April 1808, during
a shock, the electrical apparatus was considerably affected.
The following remarks in the same report are especially wor-
thy of attention : — " Quand I'intervalle des secousses depas-
soit plusieurs heures, I'electricite se truovoit de peu de degr^s,
et toujours positive ou vitree. Dans le moment des secousses,
elle devenoit forte au point de ne pouvoir plus etre mesuree
par les electrometres. Vingt minutes apres une secousse, les
bandalettes de mon electrometre, mis en contact de I'appareil
electrique permanent que j'ai etabli a la Tour, restoient en-
core a 30° de divergence toujours positive." * Signor Gem-
malaro relates, that his guide and two travellers on Mount
Etna, in June 1814, encountered such a current of electricity,
that their hair bristled up from the effect of it, and a loud
whistling or humming sound in the air was heard, and which
they modulated by motions of their fingers. In extracts from
Gemmalaro's Journal^ referred to below, many other electrical
phenomena are mentioned, in connection with eruptions of
Etna.t Mr Drake, in describing the Cincinnati earthquakes,
which commenced in December 1811, says, that, *•' in the win-
ter of 1811--1812, many persons observed, or thought they
observed, that those substances which are susceptible of electric
excitation, gave extraordinary indications of the presence of
the electric fluid.^J

After it has thus been established that electricity, to an
unusual extent, is connected with earthquake-shocks, there is
naturally a disposition immediately to inquire, whether the
one phenomenon is directly or indirectly the cause of the
other ? But the inquiry might be extended so as to compre-
hend all the other phenomena before related, which appear to
be equally connected with the occurrence of shocks. It is bet-
ter, therefore, to postpone any attempt to explain these isolated
phenomena, important though they be, until the whole subject

* Journal do Physique, tomo Ixvii.

t Brande's Journal of Science, vol. xiv. p. 324, and xix. p. 233,

X Account of Cincinnati, 1B15; p.2 39.

304 Mr D. Milne on Earthquake-Shocks in Great Britain,

has been fully developed ; for it will be seen, even from the
facts still to be mentioned, that the different classes of pheno-
mena accompanying earthquakes, help to explain one another.

The only other facts of a general nature which occur here
to be noticed, relate to the disturbance of the dipping-needle
during earthquake-shocks. Though the observations on this
point, have not been made in Great Britain, it may not be
deemed altogether out of place to allude to them here, con-
nected as they are with electricity, and calculated to throw
light on the general subject of this memoir.

It is recorded by Bernouilli, that, in 1767, he observed the
dip of the needle diminish half a degree, during an earthquake;
and De la Torre, whilst Vesuvius was in eruption, remarked
a change of several degrees in the variation of the needle.

Mr Kreil, the magnetic observer at Milan, in a letter pub-
lished in L'Institut of 27th February 1840, says, *' Les oscil-
lations verticalles de I'aiguille sent beaucoup plus frequentes
dans les moisde Novembre et Decembre, qu'aux autres epoques
de I'annee, et se montrent plus communement par les tems
humides." " Pent etre convient il, de les attribuer a quelques
legers tremblemens de terre, qui seront encore bien plus fre-
quents que les forts, mais qui encore inappreciables a nos sens
et a nos instruments imparfaits, nous ont ete cependant ac-
cuses par notre appareil plus perfectione. Les plus fortes os-
cillations decette espece, sont presque constaniment accompagne
de forts tremblemens de terre, qui neanmoins ont pour theatre
des pays souvent fort eloignes. Ainsi parmi un grand nombre
de phenom^nes de ce genre, je citerai comme remarquable
celui de 23d- Janvier 1838, qui se presenta entre 7^ 33' et 7^
47' p. M. (Tems. Moy. de Milan), et ou I'aiguille eprouva des os-
cillations verticales si vivos, que ses arcs s'eleverent sur Techelle
verticalle environ 15', sans toutefois qu'on ait pu partout autre
moyen reconnoitre les traces d'un tremblement de terre. Au
bout de 20 jours, on lisoit dans les journaux des details, sur les
disastres affreux causes par un tremblement de terre survenu
le memo jour a Buckarest, Jassy, Odessa, et autres localites.
D'apres les epoques indiques, le phenomene avait ete observe
a Jassy a 7^ 42' (Tems Moy. de Milan), et Odessa a 7^' 45'
du meme tems, epoques qui coincident exactement avec celle
ou le phenomene des oscillations de I'aiguille a ete observe."

PLATE VI. £din:N>'wFhil.Jour.Vol.31.p.303.

Fr^.l.

Fi^.7.

B. GooiUvr. Utlt

KMiirhtJl . Sculp'.

and especially in Scotland. 305

Signor Capocci, Directeur de I'observatoire de Naples, in a
letter to Eliede Beaumont published in theComptes Rendues,*
says, " Apres 1' eruption du Janvier dernier, la declinaison de
I'aiguille a brusquement diminu^ d*un demi degreaumoins."

In the Annalen der Physiken,f a Mr Gay is r^erred to as
having observed in Chili, for a long period, and with great care,
the daily variations of the needle. It is stated on his autho-
rity, that, during the earthquake in that country, of 20th Feb-
ruary 1835, a great distui-bance was produced in the daily va-
riation of the dipping needle, but not in that of the horizontal
needle.

On this point it also deserves to be noticed, that the mean
daily changes in the variation of the needle, amount, during
the six months of summer, on an average of the last observa-
tions in this country, to 10' 48", and in the six winter months
to 6' 31", — ^the maximum and minimum being also in Decem-
ber and June respectively. t It will be remembered, that, in
both these respects, viz., the time of the year and the parti-
cular months when the maxima and minima of diurnal vari-
ation occur, the register of earthquake-shocks presents a re-
markable coincidence or analogy.

A similar coincidence is discoverable in the magnetic inten-
sity^^ which reaches a maximum in December, and a minimum
in June : — so that it is, on the whole, difficult to resist the
conclusion, that the causes of earthquake-shocks, whatever
they are, are, in some way or other, connected with terres-
trial magnetism.

In reviewing the summary which has now been given of the
phenomena attending the earthquake-shocks felt in this coun-
try, it will be observed that the order proposed has been, as
far as possible, preserved, of noticing, firsts the phenomena
which explain the nature or character of the shocks; and,
next^ the phenomena which seem to throw light upon the
causes of them.

Without venturing to say what these causes are, until, at all
events, the observations made during the shocks of 1839, 1840,
and 1841, in this country have been detailed, it may be ad-

* Tomo ix. p. 374. t Vol. xxxvii. p. 480.

J See article Ma^etism, ia Napier's Encyclopajdift Britannica, p. 730.
§ Ibid. p. 740. ^ ' * ' ^

306 Mr D. Milne on Earthquake-Bhockt in Great Britain^

vantageous to point out some of the inferences which appear
to be established by the register, so far as it goes, and the phe-
nomena embraced by it.

(1.) Whilst it is undeniable that the shocks emanate from the
interior part's of the earth at different depths, it would appear
that they are essentially connected with changes in the earth's
atmosphere. This inference is established by the proofs ad-
duced in the foregoing pages, of the various meteorological
phenomena that almost constantly attend earthquake-shocks.

In what way these atmospheric changes are connected with
earthquakes, — v/hether as causes or effects of them, — is a dif-
ferent question. Some of them, it may be thought, cannot
possibly be considered effects. For example, the monthly va-
riations in the weight and electricity of the atmosphere (to
which the monthly occurrence of earthquake-shocks exactly
correspond), no one will venture to ascribe to any other than
solar influence. If, then, none of these are the effects of earth-
quakes, is it to be at once concluded that they are the causes,
or that they influence the causes, of earthquakes % Do all of
these meteorological forces, or atmospherical conditions, exert
an influence, — and do they act separately or in combination ?

Mr Scrope, in his excellent treatise on Volcanoes says, that
he was told by the Lipari fishermen, that the intensity of the
eruptions at Stromboli is much greater during winter than
summer, and that it usually increases with the storminess of
the season, insomuch that the fishermen are in the habit of
auguring fair or foul weather from the state of the volcano.
This circumstance, which is entirely in accordance with the
facts deduced from our register, led Mr Scrope to suggest, that
the greater frequency of earthquake-shocks in the winter sea-
son may be owing to the diminution of atmospherical pressure
during that season.* When the barometer is at 31 inches,
the atmosphere presses on the surface of Great Britain with a
weight equal to 291,793,239,406 tons. When it sinks to 27
inches, there is a diminution of weight on the same area, equal
to 37,648,938,386 tons, being about 427,231 tons on each
square mile. It is manifest, that, when the subterranean elas-
tic forces have, by accumulation or otherwise, acquired such

* Scrope on Volcanoes, p. 7 and 60.

and especially in Scotland. » 307

strength as that they are nearly able to produce a disrup-
tion of the strata which confines them, a considerable depres-
sion of the barometer might enable them to accomplish that
result. It is thus easy to understand how shocks should be
more frequent in winter than in summer, and how at any season
shocks should generally be preceded by barometrical depres-
sion.

It is thus shewn that the ordinary changes of atmospheri-
cal pressure may have an important effect on the elastic forces,
whether gaseous or liquid, which are supposed to exist beneath
the solid crust of the earth, and cause them to produce disrup-
tions, that would propagate vibrations to the earth's surface.

(2.) But can all the electrical phenomena of earthquakes be
accounted for on the foregoing theory"? Would a mere change
of atmospherical pressure be attended by these phenomena,
without supposing the production and development of subter-
ranean electricity 1 Looking to the facts before described, it
seems difficult to deny, that, during earthquake-shocks, there
is an excess of electricity ; and from the way in which, on se-
veral occasions, it was indicated, it is reasonable to suppose
that it issued from the earth. The tvhizzing sound, — the cracks
or stiaps in the air, sometimes as loud as the report of a can-
non,— and the electrical shocks experienced by individuals
during earthquakes, seem almost to establish this proposition.
Electricity, as is well known, is produced by the conversion of
water into steam, so that if rain were to percolate from the
earth's surface far enough down into the interior of the globe,
so as to be converted into steam, electricity would be evolved
in considerable quantity. Now it is, in this point of view, im-
portant to observe, that earthquake-shocks are most frequent
in those places where there are deep and extensive fissures,
and at those seasons where rain falls in most abundance on
the earth's surface. From the table given on page 289 hereof,
it will be seen that the shocks are more frequent during the
first three months of winter than during the remaining three
months, a circumstance which is confirmatory of the suppo-
sition that electricity is evolved by the autumn rains. There
may be some hesitation in admitting that water could descend
in the fissures wliich intersect the earth's crust to the requi-
site depth. But that water docs descend very far, by such fi»-

308 Mr D. Milne on Earthquake-Shocks in Great Britain,

sures, is known to miners, as the deepest mines are never free
from water, which, the greater the depth, exerts the greater
hydrostatic pressure. Besides, it will be remembered that
earthquake-shocks are most frequent at those seasons when
the weight of the atmosphere is least, and when, therefore,
the subterranean elastic forces may, to some extent, exert a
lifting or heaving power on the superincumbent strata, and
thus facilitate the progress of the water along the cracks and
fissures.

(3.) The suggestions now thrown out to explain the cause of
earthquake-shocks, and the phenomena accompanying them,
are founded on the assumption, which most geologists seem to
have adopted, that these shocks arise either from disturbances
in the molten lava on which the earth's crust is floating, or
from disruptions caused by an explosion or sudden expansion
of elastic vapours. On that view, it is not difficult to see that
a considerable variation, and especially a diminution, of atmo-
spheric pressure over any portion of the earth's surface, may
facilitate there the production of such subterranean commo-
tions ; and in this case the electricity evolved would be classed
among the phenomena attending, and not among the causes
of, earthquake-shocks.

But, on the other hand, it seems to deserve consideration
whether electricity may not itself be, occasionally at least, in*
strumental in the production of shocks. If (as cannot be
doubted) electricity be generated to a great extent in the in-
terior of the earth, and is, at the very time that the shocks
occur, transmitted'upwards to the surface, is it not reasonable
to suppose that vibrations would thereby be caused in the
earth's crust as effectually as by the alleged disruption of
strata ? And is it not more philosophical to attribute such vi-
brations to a known and sufficient cause, than to one entirely
hypothetical ?

It may be asked how, in this view, the diminution or the
variation of atmospherical pressure is connected with the pro-
duction of earthquake-shocks, if they are caused solely or
chiefly by electricity 1 In answer to this objection, it may be
remarked, that those circumstances which aid in the produc-
tion of subterranean electricity, are generally indicated by a
*low barometer, and at all events occur chiefly at those seasons

Mr H. D. S. Goodsir on two New Species of Leachia, 309

of the year when the barometer is lowest. Farther, it is im-
portant to observe, that some recent writers have, on appa-
rently very plausible grounds, attributed the depression of the
barometer to the influence of electricity on the atmosphere.*
It has long been known that electricity is generated in great
abundance in the earth, and that it passes in various forms,
though most frequently imperceptibly, into the atmosphere.
Would it be an irrational conjecture, that the production of
earthquake-shocks, at least in non-volcanic countries, is due
to the states in which the atmosphere are relatively to each
other ? If, as there is reason to suppose, electricity is formed
in the interior of the earth most abundantly during winter,
does this circumstance not serve to explain the greater fre-
quency of shocks in that season \ and may the shocks not be
caused by occasional discharges of electricity from the earth
into the atmosphere — ^not unlike to discharges from one cloud
to another \

[In the next number there will be a continuation of the Register of Shocks
in Great Britain, and especially in Scotland, during the years 1839, 1840,
and 1841, with an abstract of the phenomena which accompanied them.]

On two New Species of Leachia. By Henry D. S. Goodsir,
Esq., Surgeon, Anstruther, Fife. With a Plate. Communi-
cated by the Author.

Among a number of undescribed Crustaceans which have
from time to time occurred to me at the mouth of the Frith
of Forth, are two Idoteae, referable to the genus Leachia of
Johnston.t

1 . Leachia intermedia. (Mihi^

L. Antennis superioribus longioribus articulis duobus primis inferio-
rum ; ultimo articulo minute et globoso ; quarto segmento thoracico
serie tuberculatum utroque latere amborum cardinum longitudinalium
instructo. Long. lin. 4.6.

* See a paper by M. Tassau, road at the Societt? Philomathique of Parisi
as quoted in L'Institut of 10th June 1841 ; and also a paper by Mr Rowell,
read at the G lasgow Meeting of the British Association (p. 4G of Brit. Assoc,
Report for 1840).

t Edin. Phil. Jour., vol. xiii, p. 219.

310 Mr H. D. S. Goodsir on two New Spec ics of Leachia.

This species resembles L. lacertosa^ but its prominent parts
are more boldly thrown out. The plates on each side of the
antennae do not project, and their inferior-anterior angles
are acute. The superior antenna) are longer than the two first
joints of the inferior ; the first joint is globose, the second,
third, and fourth are slender, and the fifth is globular. The
inferior antennae are almost as long as the body ; the first joint
in each is as long as the head, cylindric, and having a ridge
on its external side ; the following joints are more slender,
and the last joint finely pointed. A double row of tubercles
run down each side of the body immediately above the inser-
tion of the legs. They are large and very prominent on the
three anterior and three posterior articulations of the thorax,
but on the fourth articulation they are not so prominent, and
are placed in a regular series on each side of the longitudinal
hinges peculiar to this segment. The abdomen bulges consi-
derably, and then tapers suddenly to a point at its posterior
extremity. The animal is of a straw colour spotted with
brown.

Hab. Firth of Forth, off Anstruther.

2. Z. gracilis. (Mihi.)

L. gracilis. Antennis superioribus pauUo brevioribus, tribus priniis
articulis inferiorum ; quarto thoracico segmento, lineari-cylindricoj et
non tuberculato. Long-, lin. 7.

In this species the body is very slender and quite smooth,
without the tubercles which are found in all the other species.
The plate which covers the base of the antennsQ projects, and
is rounded anteriorly. The superior antennae are almost as
long as the three first joints of the inferior. The first joint
globular, the second and third linear, each of them as long as
the first, the fourth equal in length or longer than the others
conjoined, and the fifth is minute and linear. The inferior
antennae are as long as the body. The first joint obsolete, the
second slightly clavate, and the last three joints strongly pec-
tinated on their inferior edges. Both pairs of antennae have
a few bristles scattered over them. The body is quite smooth,
with the exception of a few scattered punctures. The fourth
thoracic segment is linear, cylindric, and not tuberculated.

Mr H. D. S. Goodsir on (tvo New Species of Leachia, 311

The proximal extremity of the abdomen bulges very much,
assuming the appearance of one of the thoracic segments, and*
from this it tapers very gradually to a very fine point. Colour
dirty white, with brown spots.

Hab. Firth of Forth, off Anstruther.

I have also met with the L. lacertosa of Johnston {Arcturus
longicornisy Westwood) in the Frith of Forth, and in deep wa-
ter in the German Ocean. My specimens of this species pre-
sent all the characters recorded by Johnston, Westwood, and
Milne Edwards. It occurs more frequently than the two new
species; but all three are rare, probably in consequence of
their pelagic habitats. With the dredge I have procured
specimens of all the species alive, and have kept them in
glass-jars of sea-water with sand and corallines, and have
thus been enabled to watch their habits closely.

Under the circumstances just stated, each individual will
select a branch of coralline, will keep that branch exclusively
to itself, and will defend it with the greatest vigour against
all intruders. It fixes itself to its resting-place by means of
its true thoracic feet, and seldom uses these for progression.
When it falls to the bottom of the vessel, it fixes its long
pointed antennae firmly into the sand, and, with the assistance
of the true feet, drags and pushes itself forward. This, how-
ever, may not be a natural mode of progression, but may be
adopted in consequence of the artificial circumstances in which
the animal is placed.

Swimming is the natural mode of progression. It is amus-
ing to see one of these animals resting, in an erect posture,
on a branch of coralline, by means of its true thoracic feet,
waving its body backwards and forwards, throwing about its
long inferior antennae, and ever and anon drawing them
through its anterior fringed feet, for the purpose of cleaning
them. It frequently darts from its branch, with the rapidity
of lightning, to seize with its long antennae some minute crus-
taceous animal, and returns to its resting-place to devour its
prey at pleasure.

In this manner the antennae are the only organs employed
in seizing and enclosing the prey, which they drag to the an-
terior thoracic feet which hold it while it is being devoured.

312 Mr H. D. S. Goodsir on two New Species of Leachia.

The strong claws with which the inferior antennae are armed,
seem also to be useful to the animal in the act of prehension.

The genus Arcturus was constituted by Latreille for the
reception of Sabine's Idotea Bafini.* Westwood, in his paper
on the Arcturi, in the first volume of the Transactions of the
Entomological Society, included in this genus not only Sabine^s
Idotea Baffini^ but also Johnston's Leachia lacertosa, a species
differing from the former in the great length and development
of the fourth thoracic segment. Milne Edwards, in the Nouvelles
Suites a Buffon, following up Mr Westwood's arrangement,
divides the species of the genus Arcturus into two sets, the
one in which the fourth thoracic segment is not more deve-
loped than the others, and the other in which this segment is
elongated and provided with a pouch. The first set includes
only one species, that first described, — the Arcturus Baffini,
Westwood ; the second, the Arcturus longicornis^ Westwood, — ■
Johnstone's Leachia lacertosa. Considering the highly deve-
loped fourth thoracic segment to be of generic value, I have
thought it right to restore Dr Johnstone's original genus, and
have therefore placed my two new species along with his L,
lacertosa in the same genus, retaining the genus Arcturus for
the reception of Sabine's original species. As the fourth
thoracic segment affords the characters of this genus, so the
antennae, and particularly the superior, exhibit the best marked
specific characters. These, and the sculpture of the surface
of the animals, have afforded sufficient characters for the three
species already described, and will, I have no doubt, serve to
distinguish any others which may occur.

From an anatomical examination of L. lacertosa, I may state
the following details of structure in this very remarkable ge-
nus : — The nervous system consists of a supra-oesophageal
ganglion, from which the usual nerves of sense proceed, as
well as a cord on each side of the pharynx, to join the first
thoracic ganglion. At the base of each of the four ciliated
feet, a ganglion is situated. These ganglia are connected to
one another by double cords, and to three similar ganglia at
the bases of the three posterior feet by a long double cord,
which is situated immediately under the delicate transparent

* Appendix to Captain Parry's Voyage,

Mr H. D. S. Goodsir on two New Species of Leachia. 313

membrane which closes the vault of the marsupium of the
fourth thoracic segment. From the last of the thoracic gan-
glia, a delicate filament on which ganglia could not be dis-
tinctly made out, passes along between the bases of the bran-
chial or abdominal feet. The muscular system in this genus
presents nothing peculiar, except the highly-developed and
distinctly-defined longitudinal muscles, two in number, which
stretch along the dorsal aspect of the elongated fourth tho-
racic segment. These are arranged for the purpose of enabling
the animals to erect the anterior part of the body on the true
thoracic legs, and of affording a purchase for the proper action
of the powerful-clawed antennae. The intestinal system con-
sists of the simple mandibles and the maxillary feet, of a di-
gestive tube moderately dilated along the fourth thoracic seg-
ment, but bulging considerably at its posterior part, and ter-
minating in a delicate intestine, which opens at the anterior
part of the vault formed by the last abdominal segment be-
hind the last pair of branchial feet. The liver exhibits itself
in the form §f two elongated yellow granular masses on each
side of the stomach. The dorsal vessel or heart was indis-
tinctly seen along the posterior part of the back, and may
be considered as communicating in the usual way with the
branchial organs, which are, in the family to which this genus
belongs, developed in the sides of the abdominal feet.

I am not acquainted with the characteristics of the male,
almost all the specimens procured having eggs in the marsu-
pium. The eggs are pear-shaped and curved, have a tough
external membrane, a granular white, and alight yellow mass
towards their centre, which may be of the nature of the yelk
globules. The ovaries are two elongated white granuUu*
bodies on each side, and beneath the liver. They open at
the third thoracic segment, at the extremity of the marsupium.

Explanation of Plate VI.

Fig. 1. Leachia intermedia.

... 2. Its superior and inferior antennse.

... 3. Its fourth thoracic segment.

... 4. Leachia gracilis.

... 6. Its superior and inferior antenn».

..T 6. Its fourth thoracic segment.

... 7. Nerrous system.

314 Dr Eschricht's Inquiries concerning

Itiquiries, Experimental and Philosophical, concerning the Ori-
gin of Intestinal TTorms. With a Plate. By Dr Eschricht,
Professor of Physiology in the University of|Copenhagen.
Communicated by the Author.* With a Plate.

CONTENTS.

Chap. I.— Historical Intboduct ion— Page 315.
§ 1. Intestinal worms regarded as identical with corainon worms ; the theory of
equivocal generation generally adopted, rejected, and again adopted, 315. § 2. The
theory of equivocal generation applied to intestinal worms, 317. § 3. Had little
credit in England, 319. § 4. Much doubted after the discoveries of Professor
Ehrenberg concerning the infusoria, 321. § 5. Must be subjected to very severe
restrictions, 323.

Chap. II.— Is constancy in External Form and Internal Structure, com-
patible WITH THE Theory of Spontaneous Generation ?— Page 324.
§ 1. It does not refute the theory, 324. § 2. But makes it very doubtful, 325.
§ 3. Particularly in respect io the Entozoa, 325. § 4. Might be considered more
compatible with the theory if somewhat modified, 326. § 5. Which modification,
however, did not prove correct in a single instance, 327.

Chap. III.— Is complete Organization compatible with the supposed Spon-
taneous Generation ? — Page 327.
§ 1. This question answered in the affirmative by Profes5y)r Burdach, 327.
§ 2. Exposition of the phenomena by generation, 328. § 3. The analogy between
the formation of living bodies and crystallization refuted, 332. § 4. The analogy be-
tween the supposed equivocal generation and generation refuted, 333. § 5. Ex-
planation of equivocal generation as produced by latent life refuted, 334.

Chap. IV.— The great Fertility of Intestinal Worms incompatible with
THE Hypothesis of their Spontaneous Generation— Page 335.
§ 1. The chief characteristic of the structure in intestinal worms is an immense
development of the generative system, 335. § 2. Example from the Ascaris lumbri-
coides, 336. § 3. Example from the Strongylus inflexus, 337. § 4. And from the
Bothriocephalus latus and punctatus, 338.

Chap. V. — Intestinal Worms are in all cases tuk Offspring of other Iir-
TESTiNAL Worms. — Page 342.

§ 1. Helminthiasis contagious, 342. § 2. The Entozoa very commonly change
their abode at different periods of life, 344. § 3. Are very commonly subject to
metamorphoses, 347. § 4 The manner of propagation of the Entozoa supposed,
to be very complicated, 348. 5. The Spermatozoa are not parasitic animals, 351.
§ 6. Several cutaneous eruptions are parasitic cryptogamous plants, communi-
cated by contact, 352.

Chap. VI.— Conclusion— Pag^ 353.
§ 1. GenersJ Remarks upon parasitical life, 353. § 2, Infusory animalcules com-
pared with Entozoa, 354. § 3. The two theories compared in relation to physiology,
354. § 4. The analogy between the supposed equivocal generation and creation
refuted, 355. Explanation of the Figures in Plate, 356.

AW.

♦ This valuable communication was -written by the author in English. We have had
occasion to make some verbal corrections j but the language generally is wonderfully
correct.— EDlTr

the Origin of Intestinal JVorms. 316

Chap. I. — Historical Introduction.

Sect. 1. Intestinal Worms regarded as identical with Common
Worms ; the theory of Equivocal Generation adopted, rejected,
and again adopted. — The viscera, and other parts of man and
animals, occasionally abound with living worms, and such ques-
tions as the following very naturally occur ; — How are they
introduced into these situations ? — do they originate sponta-
neously ? — or are they introduced from without ? — and in what
manner ? The answer to these inquiries must be deemed of
the highest importance, by the philosopher and physician.
They have, however, been little attended to in the earlier as
well as the later periods of the history of science. During the
infancy of zoology, when the Ascarides were considered iden-
tical with common worms, it was readily concluded that they
might be introduced into the body with the water which was
drunk, or that their ova or young might be mixed with our
food; and thus, at a time when plants, and the lower, and even
vertebrate animals, were considered as originating from the
decomposition of organic substances, and some of them, for
example eels, always in this way. — This theory was scarcely
applied to intestinal worms, so easily was their introduction in-
to the body accounted for. In the first centuries after the re-
vival of science, the whole theory of equivocal generation was
generally discredited. Many instances occurred in which its
admission was proved to be erroneous, and especially on the
discovery of the metamorphosis of insects in the 17th century.
Single facts speedily led to a general conclusion, and the Har-
veian maxim, " omne vivum ex ovo,^' became a favourite axiom
in many physiological schools, in opposition to the theory of
spontaneous generation. The supposition, that intestinal worms
were identical with those without the body, being prevalent,
the question concerning their origin offered no particulai' dif-
ficulty.

About the middle of the 18th century, however, the an-
cient theory of equivocal generation again revived ; for the
maxim *' omne vivum ex ovo**' was more easily announced, than
applied in every individual case. After the discovery of the
infysory animalcules by Leuwenhoeck at the close of the 17th

316 Dr Eschricht's Inquiries concerning

century, such unexpected facts were ascertained respecting
them as could scarcely be explained otherwise than by admit-
ting their spontaneous origin ; and about half a century later
(1745-1764), the neglected hypothesis of the ancients found,
nearly at the same time, several eminent defenders, namely,
Needham in England, Buffon in France, and Wrisberg in Ger-
many. The ingenious speculations of these natural philoso-
phers could scarcely be overpowered by Spallanzani and Tere-
chowsky ; on the contrary, they rather appeared confirmed by
the experiments of Monti, Ingenhouse, Priestley, and others.
Succeeding inquirers into the history of the infusoria, were ge-
nerally imbued with theoretical views highly fg-vourable to the
spontaneous origin of living bodies. They regarded the in-
stances established by John Hill, in his " History of Ani-
mals," and by Otho Frederic Miiller, in his celebrated " Ani-
malcula infusoria," more as abstract types originating out of
a boundless variety, than as real distinct species like those of
animals in general ; and considered the infusoria generally as
living particles without any certain structure or form. It was
alleged that one of the larger infusoria might be changed into
smaller ones, wholly differing both in shape and habits. The
character of these animalcules was said to depend chiefly, if
not entirely, upon external influences ; quite the reverse of
what happens in the case of organized bodies, whose charac-
teristic it is to be developed in conformity with a certain rule,
even under a great variety of external influences. " If we take
a greater or less quantity of water," it was observed, "stronger
or weaker light, higher or lower temperature, we shall always
obtain different animalcules from the same organic substances :
again, if these substances be differently treated before they
are employed in making the infusions, if they be raw or boiled,
pulverized or entire, dried or fresh, &c. the procreated being
will be different in kind." Hence the Miillerian forms were
not regarded as characters of constant species, but merely as
very inconstant types of no precise import in science.

The learned and ingenious G. R. Treviranus of Bremen (in
his Biologic, 2d and 5th volume, 1803-5) proposed the theory
of an indelible but infinite variety of all organic matter. Pro-
vided with an internal occult life, it could assume new forms,

the Origin of Intestinal Worms, SlT

varying to infinity according to different external influences ;
and the infusoria were esteemed the first and simplest pro-
duction of this vital power of organic matter. Oken, the most
eminent of natural philosophers, declared (" Zeugung,'* 1805),
that the infusoria, although animals themselves, constituted
the essence of all other living bodies. Plants and animals,
man included, he supposed to be a mass of innumerable mi-
croscopic living bodies ; when our bodies increase, he held it
was owing to an addition of animalcula ; when they diminish,
to a subtraction of these creatures. Another very common'
opinion was to attribute independent life to the globules of
the blood ; nay, in a manual of zoology published in the year
1829 by Reich enbach, these important particles are repre-
sented along with the Spermatozoa, as the first family of the
animal kingdom.

The doctrine of the spontaneous origin of the infusoria ob-
tained considerable amplification upon the publication of thein-
vestigations of several inquirers (Fray, Gruithusen), ix). which it
was pretended that infusoria were produced by the infusion of in-
organic substances in distilled water, artificial gases alone being
admitted. Professor Burdach at Konigsberg (Physiol., vol. i.)
also arrived at the same result ; finding, that, when freshly-
hewn granite was exposed, with distilled water and oxygen or
hydrogen, to the solar light, there appeared a green matter,
with threads of Confervse. This learned professor believes
that the presence of the four elements of the ancients is the
only condition required for the production of life in its lower
forms.

Sect. 2. The Theory of Equivocal Generation was applied to
Intestinal Worms. — If equivocal generation were to be adopted
at all, it would very naturally be applied to intestinal worms.
The profound researches, of Goeze, Zeder, Rudolphi, and
Bremser, on the subject of these animals, at the close of the
18th and beginning of the 19th century, only more firmly
persuaded them that a spontaneous origin was not only ad-
missible, but was the common mode of production in this
group. What had hitherto induced the belief that intesti-
nal worms were introduced into the body from without, was
the (pinion that these worms were identical with common

VOL. XXXI. NO. LXII,— OCTOBER 1841. X

818 Mr Eschricht's Inquiries concerning

worms. But this opinion was proved to be erroneous. On the
contrary, it was proved that all intestinal worms, formed dis-
tinct species and families, of peculiar forms and internal struc-
ture adapted to their peculiar mode of life, and that they would
soon die if expelled from the body. Consequently, it could only
be from animal food, itself containing intestinal worms, that
these creatures could be introduced. But as regards man, who
feeds only on certain parts of animals, especially the flesh, and
this never raw, but prepared in a way which would destroy
any living being within it, this explanation appeared highly im-
probable. With respect to animals feeding upon other ani-
mals, the idea might appear more plausible ; but intestinal
worms were proved to be found as frequently in herbivorous
as in carnivorous animals. They are also met wdth, not only
in the interior of the digestive organs, but in other parts of
the body, in the cellular membrane (Filaria), the muscles
(C^sticercus), the brain (Coenurtis), the blood {Stro7igylus), the
lungs (Hamularid)^ the liver (Distomd), the kidneys {Slro^igy-
his) ; in fact, not a single part of the body can be deemed free
from them ; and, moreover, they are found in new-born and
even unborn animals. If such facts alone afford strong argu-
ments against the introduction of these animals with the food,
the conclusion is strongly corroborated by the observation that
the worms in all these different places form distinct species.
They are in general different in each animal, and in each or-
ganic system of each animal, so that the Fauna Helminthica
may be deemed more extensive than all the other living fauna
put together. Attempts have been made to explain how they
might have descended from parents to their young before
the birth of the latter, and how their ova might be carried
along by the circulating blood, &c. ; but all these explanations
had no observations to rest upon, and seemed so contrary
to our physiological knowledge, that they afforded abundant
opportunity for the witty sarcasm of the facetious Dr Bremser,
in the first chapter of his *' Lebende JVurmer in lehenden Miti-
schen" Thus, in Germany, the theory of equivocal gene-
ration was generally embraced, not only by those inclined to
mysticism and romance, but even by the more severe and ju-
tlicious explorers of nature ; and it was founded not soleh on

the Origin of Intestinal it^orms, 319

superficial explanations of difficult matters, but upon carefully
acquired facts and laborious investigation.

Sect. 3. Had but little credit in England. — If we consult the
English philosophers and physiologists of the period before the
last ten years, we find the question slightly treated, if not
passed over in silence. Dr Fleming, in vol. 1st of his Philo-
sophy of Zoology, Edinburgh 1822, asserts, that it is " not at
all difficult to give an explanation of the appearances on which
the whole fabric of the theory of equivocal generation rests."
But afterwards (p. 25) he only tells us, that "the most rational
explanation which can be given of the appearances of these
plants and animals, in such places, is derived from the consi-
deration of the smallness of their seeds and eggs, which may
be carried about by the winds, and showered down along with
the rains, so as to enter with facility into every situation."

Now, if this explanation be the most rational, as it seems
to be, still it is nothing more than an hypothesis founded on
no direct observation. As to the ova being carried about by
the winds, it is true that the atmosphere contains organic mat-
ter, evaporated from living and dead organic bodies, and mi-
nute dried organic particles, but no instance is known of eggs
or seeds having been observed with the microscope in these
evaporations or minute particles ; although the recent obser-
vations of Professor Schultze, at Griefswald, have proved that
certain small animals, if dried to dust, may retain their vitality
for at least seven years. Be this, however, as it may, it is
highly improbable that the occurrence should have happened
in all or in any of the experiments which were carefully insti-
tuted on this subject. Rain-water might be supposed to con-
tain microscopic animals and plants, or at least their eggs
and seeds ; but experience has not confirmed this hypothesis;
and Professor Ehrenberg, our most expert microscopical in-
quirer, has never discovered any thing of the sort, although he
has met these microscopical objects where nobody before him
ever suspected their existence. (See his Organisation^ Sgste^
>matik und Geographisches Verhdltniss der Infusionsthierchen,
1 Theil Berlin 1830. P. 79.)

Dr Bostock, in his System of Physiology, vol. iii. (1827), af-
ter having stated the theory of equivocal generation as " very

320 Dr Eschrkht's Inquiries concerning

generally exploded," judiciously adds the following remark
(p. 71) : — " The argument against equivocal generation is,
however, merely analogical, and therefore can have but a
certain degree of strength to whatever extent it be carried ;"
and he no less judiciously finishes his exposition with these
words : — " Upon the whole, it will be prudent to regard this
as one of those mysteries which the present state of our know-
ledge does not enable us to explain, or even to comprehend."
How just this final remark has proved to be, will be shewn
hereafter.

The cases which this learned physiologist regards the most
difficult to be accounted for, are the appearance of intestinal
worms, and, still more, that of the seminal animalculae. As to
the intestinal w^orms, he mentions the supposition that their
germs are contained in our food, and that they are conveyed
into the intestinal canal and developed there, as being the
situation specifically adapted for their subsistence. But if this
explanation of their appearance has been considered in any
degree satisfactory, it argues a very imperfect knowledge of
helminthology.

The reason why the theory of equivocal generation obtained
no footing in England, although it possessed in Needham one
of its most ingenious authors, was, in a great measure, the au-
thority of Harvey, whose maxim, " omne vivum ex ovo," w-as
commonly understood as opposed to the theory of spontane-
ous generation. Still it is not less true that the maxim was
never advanced in this sense by its author. When Harvey,
in the 63d of his " Exercitationes de generatione,'* states,
*' omnia animalia eodem modo ab oviformi prasmordio gene-
rantur,"' he adds immediately, " oviformi, inquam, non quod
illud figuram ovi referat, sed quod constitutionem et naturam
ejus possideat," which is farther explained in the 62d Exerci-
tation in this manner : — " His (animalibus et stirpibus) autem
omnibus (sive sponte^ sive ex allis, sive in aliis vel parttbus vel
excrement is eorum putrescentibus oriantuj') id commune est,
ut ex principio aliquo, ad hoc idoneo, et ab efficiente interno
in eodem principio vigente, gignantur ; adeo ut omnibus vi-
ventibus primordium insit, ex quo et a quo proveniant." His
whole theory is very clearly expounded shortly afterwards in

the Origin of Intestinal IV^orms. 321

these words : " Di versa scilicet diversorum viventium primor-
dia : pro quorum vario discrimine alii atque alii sunt genera-
tionis animalium modi ; qui tamen omnes in hoc uno conve-
niunt, quod a primordio vegetal!, tamquam e materia efficien-
tis virtute dotata, oriantur : difFerunt autem, quod primordium
hoc vel sponte et casu erumpat, vel ab alio prseexistente (tan-
quam fructus) proveniat. Unde ilia, sponte nascentia, Iisec a
parentibus genita dicuntur.'' The same observation upon Har-
vey's theory, Ave may add, has lately been made by Professor
Valentin in Burdach's Physiology, 2d edit. vol. i. p. 10.

Sect. 4. Was much doubted after the discoveries of Profes^
8or Ehrenherg concerning the Infusoria. — Within the last ten
years, a nev^ and most important era in the history of equi^
vocal generation has arisen in Germany with the publications
of Professor Ehrenberg. As these are celebrated all over Eu-
rope, I shall point out only the most important discoveries
which bear on this theory.

The first capital point in his observations is, his complete
confirmation of the assertions of John Hill and of O. F.
MiJller, that these animalcula form perfectlg distinct species^
like those of other animals, and may in the same way be dis-
tinguished by external and internal characters. The second
point may be stated in as few words as the first, though it is
of no less importance, and the result of immense labour : " The
animalcula infusoria^ eve^i the smallest monades, have a very
complicated organization^ These unexpected discoveries, once
announced, gave a fatal blow to all romantic fancies about the
infusoria, as founded, in a great measure, upon the general
opinion that they were wholly destitute of organs. It is true
Spallanzani, as well as MUller, had previously observed certain
distinct parts within some of them. Corti stated that he had
detected a vascular system in some, and Nitzch, eyes in others ;
but these assertions were but little attended to. At length,
Dutrochet supplied a description of the very complete organi-
zation in some of the larger infusoria — the Rotifera, whilst
others still remained, in the last edition of Cuvier's Regne Ani-
mal (1829), as '' infusoires homogcnes'^ . Thus the imagina-
tion had full scope for further speculation ; and if the discovery
of a complete organization in the animalcula infusoria has
given a fatal blow to the tlieory of a spontaneous generation^

322 Dr Eschricht's Inquiries concerning

the whole merit is due to the discoveries of Professor Ehren-
berg. It is of little consequence in this matter, whether this
gentleman he right in maintaining that the infusoria poli/gas-
trica are provided with real stomachs, as may be fairly in-
ferred from observation, or whether M. Dujardin be correct in
asserting the pretended stomachs to be only foramina in the
mass ; or whether the opinion of Professor Meyer of Berlin be
correct, who maintains that what Professor Ehrenberg regards
as stomachs, are nothing more than globules of the food pre-
pared in the intestines, and thrown into a large cavity. Neither
is it of any consequence whether he be right or wrong in as-
serting that certain organs are testes ; the fact being, that Pro-
fessor Ehrenberg has discovered, beyond all controversy, that
all the infusoria have a very complete organization, even if
not so perfect, according to his belief, as that of the higher or-
ders of animals. To this may be added, as the third important
particular, the direct observation that the reproduction of these
creatures is perfectly analogous to that of the other lower a?ii-
mals ; so that their appearance may be explained in most in-
stances without difficulty. These are circumstances which
would lead every cautious naturalist to entertain the strongest
suspicions concerning the spontaneous origin of these animal-
cula, and hence we now find the modern physiological school
of John MUller, Valentin, Siebold, &c. harbouring such doubts ;
although the theory of spontaneous^generation can scarcely be
considered as refuted or exploded, so long as such philosophers
and physiologists as Carus, Burdach, and Baer, still warmly de-
fend it.

** To be, or not to be, that is the question \' and in respect
to this doctrine, strong and specious arguments may be addu-
ced on both sides. This being the case, a rash decision is
carefully to be avoided, and those who rashly arrive at one,
will probably fluctuate and change more than they anticipate.
Time will speedily shew whether the physiologists of some
countries, which have always rejected the doctrine, will not ere
long adopt, and perhaps again reject, it ; in fact, at the present
moment, no country possesses a more zealous advocate for the
theory than France does in M. Turpin. At the same time,
the question is much too important to be thrown aside. If we
•eannot obtain absolute certainty, we ought to approach it as

the Origin of Intestinal Worms, 398

nearly as possible. The interest of physiology is often more
in the inquiries than in the results; and no inquiry in nature is
useless, even though the desired end be sought in vain. These
remarks are applicable to the inquiry concerning the exist-
ence of equivocal generation in general, and particularly re-
garding intestinal worms, as they necessarily lead to the most
interesting and important mysteries of nature.

Sect. 5. Must be subjected to very severe Hestrictions. — The
infusory animalcules form distinct species, they have a very
complete organization, they multiply in a manner analogous
to other animals, partly by eggs, partly by voluntary division.
Hence their spontaneous origin, if adopted at all, must be sub-
jected to the following restrictions : 1. That their formation,
although arising spontaneously, is limited to certain external
and internal forms, no intermediate form being permitted.
2. That such forms arising spontaneously may have a highly
complicated structure, with a harmony as perfect as that which
characterizes organisms in general. 3. That these diminutive
organisms, themselves spontaneously produced, and the off-
spring of no other similar organism, must still propagate them-
selves in a manner analogous to other animals.

With these restrictions, the theory of equivocal genera-
tion appears to many physiologists to be deprived of all foun-
dation. But it will require little pains to shew, that these
same restrictions have long been made in the theory, as ap-
plied to intestinal worms.

As to the first point, it is certain that, in the human body
for instance, one Ascaris lumbricoides is invariably precisely
like another of the same sex, in respect both to external shape
and internal structure. This result is much more easily ascer-
tained in these worms than in the infusoria, on account of their
greater size.

As to the complicated structure, it may now be regarded as
decided, that it is as perfect in iiitestinal worms in general as
in animals of other classes. For the Nematoidea this has
been shewn in several species, especially in the Ascaris lum-
bricoides. In proof of this, I need only cite the monography
of M. Jules Cloquet, although a more complete account of the
class may now be necessary. A genus of this order, which

324 Dr Eschricht*s Inquiries concerning

has lately been most accurately described, is that of the Pen-
tastoma. (Diesing, in the Annals of the Vienna Museum,
vol. i.) Concerning the Trematoda, numerous beautiful mo-
nographies have long since sufficiently proved our assertion,
every one being familiar w^ith the treatises of Mehlis, Laurer,
Nordmann, and Diesing. The Acantocephali have had a dili-
gent describer in Westrumb,andthe J?fA««(?r%wc/iM5^?^a5, par-
ticularly in Jules Cloquet. Of the Cestoidea the genus Both-
riocephalus has been carefully described by Professor Leuck-
art, and the Twnia solium by several anatomists, though not in
distinct monographies. In the year 1837 I had the honour
to receive the prize avrarded to a treatise upon the anatomy
and physiology of the Bothriocephalic by the Academy of Ber-
lin. It was sent in the month of May 1838 to the Academia
Caesarea Leopoldino-Carolina at Breslau, in order to be pub-
lished in its Acta ; and here I shall only notice, that this ani-
mal has a very complicated structure in each of its thousand
joints, very analogous to the structure of the Trematad. The
organs of generation I shall have an opportunity of describing
somewhat more particularly in the following pages. It is only
in the vesicular worms that a more complete internal struc-
ture has not yet been demonstrated, although important and
highly interesting notices have been furnished by Dr Siebold
(in Burdach's Physiology, 2d edit. vol. ii. p. 183-213). Fi-
nally, in respect to the third point, it is a general opinion that
the intestinal worms produce eggs and young ones, and the
accuracy of this opinion will also be amply illustrated in the
following pages.

We have now to consider how far these restrictions may be
deemed compatible with the theory of equivocal generation,

CHAP. II. IS CONSTANCY IN EXTERNAL FORM AND INTERNAL

STRUCTURE COMPATIBLE WITH THE THEORY OF SPONTANE-
OUS GENERATION ?

Sect. 1. It does not refute the Theory. — The question here
proposed might be answered in the affirmative, inasmuch as it
must be granted as a general law in nature, that forms in ge-
neral are confined within certain impassable limits, although the
necessity of this limitation transcends our conception. Thus, for

the Origin of Intestinal Worms, 325

instance, in the numerous forms of carbonate of lime, a funda-
mental form is still observed to prevail, whereby this variety is
limited. In confirmation of this view, we may adduce the obser-
vations which have been made upon hybrid animals^ which can
scarcely ever procreate, as if nature were averse to hybrid forms
in general. Finally, the defenders of equivocal generation pre-
tend that new forms will arise in every case where altogether
new conditions exist, as has been stated with regard to algas
and other such plants ; but it is quite as difficult to prove these
views, as it would be to refute them.

Sect. 2. But makes it very doubtful, — Thus the first-named
restriction to the doctrine of spontaneous generation, although
it contains no decided proof against the theory, should make us
hesitate much before we adopt it. For, as it is safer to trust
little to our own sagacity, and much to the expedients of nature,
it seems wiser, on discovering the same animal here and there
and everywhere, to conclude that this animal, by its natural in-
stinct, has found means to multiply in some way which escapes
our observation, than to maintain that this process could not
have eluded us, and that nature must afresh have created new
specimens precisely of the same stamp as those all around us.
I say all around, for if we consider how extremely minute are
the quantities submitted to microscopical examination in the
experiments upon infusory animalcules, and how repeatedly
the same forms recur, we cannot but acknowledge the com-
mon forms of infusoria to be spread wheresover a drop of fluid
is to be found.

Sect. 3. Particularly in respect to the Entozoa^ or Internal
Worms. — It was previously observed, that the constancy of forms
was much more easy to ascertain in intestinal worms than in the
infusoria, on account of their greater size. But it is likewise
much more difficult to make this constancy of form harmonize
with the supposition of their spontaneous origin. To maintain
that the contents of the human intestines are, by a kind of fer-
mentation, metamorphosed into living animals which, notwith-
standing the immense variety of food in men of diff^erent condi-
tions, always prove to be the Ascarides lumbricoides, Taeniaj so-
lium, or Bothriocephali lati in the smaller intestines, and the As-
carides vermiculares, or Tricocephali dispares in the larger, will

326 Dr Eschricht^s Inquiries concerning

assuredly appear a very bold attempt to every one. And, more-
over, as the inhabitants of Russia, Poland, Switzerland, and a
part of France, are subject to a particular kind of tape-worm,
the Bothriocephalus latus, widely different from the Ta3nia
solium, it would be necessary at the same time to maintain
such a similarity existed in the diet of a Russian nobleman, a
Polish Jew, and a Swiss chamois-hunter, as would produce one
and the same species out of their chyme ; whilst another was
produced from the chyme of an English lord, a Scotch High-
lander, and a Westphalian peasant.

Sect. 4. It might be reputed more compatible with the
Theory, if this were somewhat modified, — The spontaneous ori-
gin of intestinal worms might, however, be supposed to pro-
ceed from a different, and possibly a somewhat more plausible,
cause. They might be conceived to be a morbid formation from
the living body itself, as tubercules and the so called false mem-
branes are, which often possess a peculiar vascular system. As
it respects intestinal worms of the simplest organization, this
hypothesis is not without a semblance of probability. It might be
held particularly of the Acephalocysti, which, although consi-
dered worms, look precisely like simple vesicles ; the Echino-
cocci, in the later period of their development, are not very dif-
ferent from these, and the Coenuri again are only different in
respect of their Taenia heads, which Dr Siebold has observed
to appear subsequently on the common vesicle ; the same per-
haps may be the case with the head of the Cysticerci, although
these might be regarded as tape-worms, and tape-worms may
be maintained to be composite Trematoda, which belong to
the most perfect organized intestinal worms. Thus an almost
uninterrupted scale might be composed of the intestinal worms,
from those which can scarcely be distinguished from morbid
vesicles to those having a very complete organization, and
what appeared possible for the animal at the lowest part of
the scale, could not readily be declared absolutely impossible
for that at the highest. But though this theory may appear
somewhat plausible, it will scarcely stand the test of calm
criticism. The Acephalocystides may, in shape, be very like to
Hydatides, but if they be really animals, they will be widely
different from such morbid formations in their internal struc-

the Origin of Intestinal Worms, 327

ture. Their spontaneous origin may appear somewhat more
plausible than that of more complicate organisms ; it is not
more so in reality.

Sect. 5. Which modification^ however ^ did not prove correct
in a single instance.-^On one occasion an excellent opportu-
nity was afforded me for observing whether there was any gra-
dual degeneration into an intestinal worm ; and I made the best
possible use of it. In nearly all the Cotti scorpii (fig 1, Plate vii.,
in 98 out of 102 which I examined) may be found a greater or
a lesser number of Bothriocephali punctati, all of which were
attached, by the foremost part of the head to the mucous
surface of the appendices pyloricae. I found the size of these
worms very different, according to the greater or smaller
number of joints connected with the head. The smallest were,
but one-third of a line, had no joints, and consisted only of the
head. These heads were almost concealed between the valves
or villi, attached to the mucous surface, and the suggestion
forcibly occurred to my mind, that these heads might be no-
thing more than degenerated valves like corns or tubercles.
A more accurate examination, however, soon banished this
idea. Nowhere could I find any morbid alteration of the
valves, which indicated any thing like an intermediate state
between a valve and a bothriocephalus ; and every protuber-
ance was, with the greatest facility, ascertained to be a valve
or a worm, with its individual characteristics of form, struc-
ture, colour, attachments, &c.

CHAP. III. IS COMPLETE ORGANIZATION COMPATIBLE WITH THE

SUPPOSED SPONTANEOUS GENERATION ?

Sect. 1. The question answered in the affirmative by Profes-
sor Burdach. — These animals, which are held to arise sponta-
neously, have a highly complicated structure, in which a har-
mony as perfect as that which characterizes organisms in ge-
neral prevails. To most this must appear a startling proposi-
tion. Let us see how the illustrious Professor Burdach, en-
deavours to make it plausible. He remarks (Physiologic, 2d
edition, vol. i. page 12), *' By the discovery of the more com-
plicated structure of the infusoria, the hypothesis of equivocal
generation is in no respect refuted a priori ; for it is in gene-

328 Dr Escliricht*s Inquiries concerning

ral a vain presumption to trace the limits of possibility in na-
ture. In the process of reproduction a transparent fluid is
seen to exi^de, which, by degrees, becomes more consistent,
appears gran ulcus under the microscope, and is finally organ-
ized, and even in some instances reproduces the lost organ
with its bones, ligaments, muscles, and nerves. In generation
by means of eggs, the new individual is formed in the same
way out of a shapeless mass of microscopical grains. After
such analogous facts, we can never regard it as impossible
that an animal of a different species of a more simple struc-
ture, or even with muscles and nerves, may arise out of the
granulous mass which is produced by the decomposition of or-
ganic substances."

Sect. 2. Exposition of the Phenomena by Generation. — •
These assertions of the celebrated professor merit a careful
examination. The supposed spontaneous generation is de-
clared analogous in its appearances to reproduction, and gene-
ration by means of eggs. In order to examine the reality of
this analogy, we shall take a review of the phenomena attend-
ing these processes, such as they have been observed by mo-
dern and highly accurate observers, especially by Dr Schwann
of Berlin (Mikroskopische Untersuchungen uber die Ueberein-
stimung, &c., Berlin, 1838, 1.), and Professor Valentin of
Bern (in the Physiology of Professor Rudolph Wagner, 1839),
Dr Schleiden having given the first impulse to the investiga-
tion by his elaborate memoir. (MuUer's Archiv, 1838, 1.)

A formless transparent fluid or substance is first secreted
from the parent body, which is called the cytohlastema. In
this transparent substance grains of the smallest size appear.
These increase first by juxtaposition, and thus small bodies
are formed with still smaller central bodies, ''^ nuclei^ — nucleoli;''''
the first, also called cytoUasti by Schleiden, in the analogous
parts of plants, the merit of which discovery is due to the
celebrated Robert Brown. After this a vesicle arises upon
each nucleus, and grows by absorption from the cytohlas-
tema. This cytohlastema is now, of course, in a great mea-
sure, filled with vesicular bodies, each having a minute body
or nucleus attached to its inside, which, again, in its turn, in-
cludes one or more nucleoli. These vesicular bodies are called

the Origin of Intestinal Worms, 329

cells, and they might not inappropriately be designated pri-
mitive cellsy as they are the primary parts of all the systems of
the living body, changing by degrees into all the different
forms which the elementary particles of the different systems
assume. In plants these primitive cells are permanent in al-
most every part. The same is true in some of the systems of
animal bodies, as in the epidermis and all other parts of the
systema corneum, as also in the pigmenta. Very often a se-
cretion occurs vv^ithin the primitive cells, as is common in
plants ; and may be witnessed in great beauty in the pigmen-
tum of the eye ; in the mucus Malpighii of the negro, it has
been observed by Dr Henle of Berlin, as the dark colour
seated within the cells ; and I lately made the same observa-
tion in the very black cutaneous membrane of the Delphimis
Fhoccena. The secretion commonly begins near to the nucleus.
The nucleus generally disappears when the cells are fully de-
veloped ; but this is not the case in the pigmentum of the eye,
where the transparent nucleus looks like a hole in the dark
cell. All the parts belonging to the corneous system, the
epidermis, the nails, the horns, &c., consist merely of such
primitive cells, and they are invariably formed and produced
from a new mass or cytoblastema, secreted from the subjacent
living parts.

The systems in which the primitive cells do not undergo
any further change, may be considered as possessing the
lowest degree of organization. The globules of the blood,
according to the observations of Professor Valentin, are to
be regarded as nuclei with nucleoli, the real cells of which
are dissolved in the transparent liquor of the blood. In
other systems the metamorphosis of these primitive cells is
much more striking. In the formation of cartilage, a secre-
tion takes place between the cells which enclose it, so that
they appear at last merely as small bodies, the corpuscula
of the cartilage, in its interior ; afterwards when the inter-
cellular substance is once filled with calcareous matter they
appear to be united by means of long very narrow tubes (see
a beautiful delineation by Professor Joh. Miiller, in Miescher
de Inflammatione Ossium, eorumque anatome generali, Berl.
183G), and at last are filled up with calcareous matter, and

330 Dr Escliricht's Inquiries concerning

appear as the corpuscula Deutschii. In the formation of the
tela cellulosa of the muscles and nerves, the metamorphosis
of these primitive cells is still more singular ; but it will not
here be necessary to carry this review farther. Suffice it to
observe, that it is out of these primitive cells that the primi-
tive fibres, tubes, and particles in general are formed, by their
metamorphosis, by their arrangement into rows, and by secre-
tion in their interior. These phenomena in the process of
reproduction are very like those observed in the formation of
eggs, and in the metamorphosis of the blastema into the em-
bryo, as, in general, thei/ resemble those which take place in all
7iutritive processes, in the widest sense of the expression. Not
only is the blaste (blasto dema) composed of cells ; even the
yolk, in a great measure, consists of them, and the egg may
be regarded as a regeneration of the whole parent body, pro-
ceeding in the same way as reproduction in general ; viz. a
transparent fluid is secreted in the ovarium ; nuclei and cells
are formed within it, which are destined to undergo a series
of metamorphoses. In this case, the secreted mass, with its
primitive cells, is limited by peculiar envelopes, indicating its
higher destination as an independent organism. But even in
this general formation of the whole organism, an analogy has
' been traced by Dr Schwann to that of the primitive cells ; the
vesicula germinativa (or Purkinjii) being compared to the
nucleolus, the yolk to the cell and its secretion. &c. (See
Schwann, 1. c. p. 46-70.) How very much the ova of the As-
carides resemble primitive cells will be afterwards shewn. As
the formation of tlie egg may be termed a reproduction of the
whole body, so nutrition may be regarded as a reproduction
of the smallest particles of the body. And, in truth, it ap-
pears beyond all doubt, that the internal changes in this pro-
cess go forward precisely in the same way. No particle of a
bone, for instance, will be formed, whether at first in the
foetus, or afterwards by the unceasing process of nutrition, or
accidentally by the regeneration of a wounded bone, without a
metamorphosis from cartilage ; this, again, will be formed in
every instance by primitive cells, and these, exactly in the way
just mentioned. An inflammation, which is characterised by
"swelling, heat, redness, and pain," has nothingto do with these

the Origin of Intestinal IForms^ 38t

processes, and will only harm them, whenever it occurs, In cold-:
blooded vertebral animals, whose regenerative power is strong,
and whose wounds and fractures will of course heal easily, no
inflammation usually accompanies the regeneration ; and, in
the warm-blooded, it cannot be too carefully guarded against.
This great and fundamental rule in surgery and medical prac-
tice has been discussed in Britain, with all due attention, by Dr
James Macartney, in his treatise on Inflammation, the result of
many years' laborious inquiry. The phenomena just described
in reproduction and in formations generally, appears to be pre-
cisely similar in invertebral animals, and, with certain modi-
fications {vide Schleiden, 1. c), in vegetables too. In the Sal-
pas, whose texture is regarded by some naturalists, so very
simple, almost like a jelly, as by Professor Meyen at Berlin
(Acta Loop. Carol, vol. xvi. p. 373). I lately had an opportunity
of observing, not only that the serous membranes are formed
just as in vertebral animals, by a layer of primitive cells,
like a piece of beautiful mosaic work, but also, that, in the
fa'tus, these cells are formed gradually upon the nuclei. At
the same time, I had an excellent opportunity of observing,
not only that the muscles of the Salpas have the same struc-
ture, with transversal stripes, as those of the vertebrate and
articulate animals ; but also that this texture was gradually
developed in the foetus, precisely in the way stated by Professor
Valentin, cells arranging themselves in rows, in which the nu-
clei continue visible for a long time, the number of the rows
at first being less, and each row thicker than the primitive
fibres of the muscles into which they are metamorphosed.

Upon the whole, there can be no doubt the phenomena are
essentially the same in all processes of nutrition and repro-
duction, and that equivocal generation, if it existed, w^ould pro-
ceed in exactly the same w^ay. As it must further be granted
to Professor Burdach, that it would be a vain presumption to
trace the limits of possibility in nature, it cannot be deemed
impossible that the primitive cells, once formed, might be
metamorphosed in any direction ; and that animals with mus-
cles and nerves might as well be formed in this way, as ani-
mals and plants whose whole body was composed of cells.
Nay, it may even be granted, that if spontaneous generation

332 Dr Eschrlcht's Inquiries concerning

appears to us more admissible in the case of animals with a
less complicated than in those of a more complicated struc-
ture, this may be attributed to ourselves. The difficulty is
not in the complication of the structure, but in the harmony
of the structure according with the wants of life ; and this
harmony may exist as well in a less complicated as in the
more complicated organization, although, to our eyes, it is
more conspicuous in the latter. Our inquiry must therefore
rest upon the question, Whether such harmony of structure
may be supposed to arise of itself?

Sect. 3. The Analogy between the Formation of Living
Bodies and Crystallization refuted, — The first point to be at-
tended to here is, that the recently described phenomena in
generation, and the formation of eggs, are in no degree to
be referred to any species of crystallization. For I think it
might be proved that there exists no analogy whatever between
the formation of living bodies and crystallization ; nay, not
even between what are called organic and inorganic forms.
Such an analogy is very commonly admitted without hesitation.
''Organic forms," it is said, "are more round, more soft; in-
organic more angular, more sharp ; even in the human body, we
find the teeth, as less organic, sharper and more angular," &;c.
These statements, I hold, rest on a very flimsy basis. Are the
teeth more angular and sharp simply because they are less or-
ganic? Howdid they obtain this shape? They were formed upon
a soft pulp, having nerves and bloodvessels, and this pulp had
precisely the shape which the teeth assumed. Had this highly
organized pulp been round as a globe, the teeth would have
become so too, — but nature would not have it so ; it was for
the benefit of the living body that they should be sharp and
angular as well as hard, and for that, and no other reason, they
received their form. Can it be otherwise with the other parts
of living bodies ? Assuredly not. The real forms of organic
matter, analogous to the forms of inorganic substances, are
perhaps as angular and as like crystals as any of the latter.
Thus sugar, uric acid, stearine, &c., have all as beautiful crys-
tals when spontaneously formed by their chemical affinities,
as we find in minerals and salts. But when organic matter
is formed in living bodies, it is forced to take the form which

the Origin of Intestinal Worms, 333

the living power imposes on it, according to the use for which
it is designed ; this it is forced to assume in opposition to its
own formative power, just as steel and iron are forced to take
the forms into which they are moulded by human art, in op-
position to the forms of their own formative power. And yet
the forms induced by human art comprehend merely the ex-
ternal shape ; and, internally, the proper minute crystallized
forms of the metal may be detected by minute examination.
In the formation of living bodies this is not the case. If, for
instance, you take the most minute slice of a tooth or a bone,
and examine it with the greatest possible degree of microsco-
pical amplification, you must not expect to find crystals of
phosphate of lime. No, you will find even there forms con-
forming to the uses of the body. We may hope to obtain am-
plifying powers to which our present ones will be as simple
lenses when compared with the best microscope ; but to hope
for the discovery of a microscope which shall reach to the end
and purpose of the provident care of the creating power in
the living body, would be to expect the discovery of a tele-
scope which should reach to the extreme limit of the world.
But this mode of reasoning will not meet with the approbation
of the electro-galvanic schools.

Sect. 4. The Analogy between the supposed EquivocalGenera'
tio7i and Generation refuted. — To these schnols it will appe^ar a
mere repetition of ancient and obsolete theories, about 7iisus
formativus^ vital powers^ and so on. But if those erred who
regarded the vital powers as a Deus ex machina^ whom they
might at any time invoke, instead of searching into the reason
of the phenomena in living bodies, surely, on the other hand,
the modern schools are just as wide of the mark. In my Da-
nish Manual of Physiology, I have attempted to illustrate the
relation of these opposing schools, in a tale to which I may
here allude. Suppose the inhabitants of an island altogether
ignorant of navigation, what would be their reasonings upon
the approach of a ship to their shore \ Some might exclaim,
** It is a sorcerer, who is out of the reach of wind or tide !
"What a difference between his movements and those of our
floating barks } Now he was close to the fatal reef, but how sud-
denly he turned round and escaped ! '* To this another might

VOL. XXXI. NO. LXII. OCTOBER 1841. Y

334 Dr Eschricht's Ltg nines concerning

reply, " This is altogether nonsense, the whole difference is
easily accounted for ; the sail and the bark turned round, and
caught the wind and current in a different direction.'' Were
mathematicians on the island, they might possibly find out
mathematical proofs that all was a simple consequence of gen-
erally prevailing laws. Limited, nevertheless, would be their
views, so long as they overlooked the harmony of the motions
resulting from the pilot's skill ; and not less limited is that ex-
plication of the phenomena of the living frame which refers
them all to the principles of mechanics, chemistry, and electro-
galvanism, independent of the presence of a vital power.

I repeat, then, that the difficulty in tracing analogies between
the phenomena in the supposed spontaneous' generation and
the process of generation, lies not in the complication of the
processes, but in the harmony of the structure ; which may
be quite as perfect in organisms of the simplest structure as
in the others, and so sufficiently attest the presence of a
ruling principle. T/ie great difficulty^ upon the supposition of
equivocal generation^ lies in the origin of this principle. This
principle being present in the process of generation, and in
the formation of eggs, and wanting in a mixture of water,
earth, air, and caloric, that very point is wanting upon which
any analogy between such a spontaneous generation and com-
mon generation rests.

Sect. 5. The Explanation of Equivocal Generation as p)roduced
hy a Latent Life refuted. — ^" But organic matter, it may be con-
tended, may at least retain somewhat of the vital power of the
living body from which it sprang, as is seen not only in eggs but
still more in the twigs of plants." True ; but as a hen*s 0:%^
never produces any other animal than a chicken, and as a twig
of willow never becomes any other sort of tree, so a piece of
organic substance, if it retain somewhat of the vital power of
the organism whence it was taken, cannot become any other
sort of organism than that of the same species. It would be
ridiculous to suppose a serpent hatched from the Qgg of a hen ,
or an oak springing from the twig of a willow, why then should
it not be as marvellous for a Vol vox globator, to arise from a
piece of beef \ In what respect is such a belief more probable,
more indicative of greater perfection of natm'al science in our
davs, than the belief of Aristotle that eels originated from

the Origin of Intestinal JVorms^ 335

mud ? We give crocUt to the statements of Trembley, when
he tells us of his having cut the hydra into innumerable pieces,
every one of which became a hydra. Howsoever marvellous
these statements, they are not repugnant to the common laws
of reproduction, or of vital phenomena in general ; but let him
tell us that out of a single portion arose a worm, a plant, or any
thing but a hydra of the same species, and we assuredly reach
the realms of fable. But, such a metamorphosis it may be an-
swered, of the substance of one organism into another of a
wholly different kind, has been directly observed. M. Turpin,
it is stated, has seen (Ann. des Sc Nat. tome 8) the globules of
milk degenerating into a certain species of cryptogamous
plant, viz., the Pencillium glaucum, Linn., an observation ana-
logous to that of M. Dutrochet, when he beheld muscular fibres
formed in albumen by the influence of Galvanism, and also
to that of Mr Cross, when he saw infusoria produced in the
same way. Accurate observations, however, will at once de-
monstrate the error and the fallacy of all such observations.

CHAP. IV. THE GREAT FERTILITY OF INTESTINAL WORMS IN-
COMPATIBLE WITH THE HYPOTHESIS OF THEIR SPONTANEOUS
GENERATION.

Sect. 1. The chief Characteristic of the structure of Intestinal
Worms is the immense development of the Heproductive St/stem,
— The highly complicated structure, both of the infusory ani-
malcules and intestinal worms, constitutes, as we have stated,
a strong argument against their spontaneous generation, and
we now add, that the most striking character of their structure
renders this consideration doubly weighty in regard to the
latter class. The most striking character in the complicated
structure of intestinal worms is the immense developinent of
their reproductive system^ and this fact alone might well nigh
decide the question respecting their spontaneous generation.
The argument is this : If these worms have a spontaneous
origin, a reproductive system is wholly unnecessary, and if one
tape-worm appears spontaneously, all may ; this, in fact, is the
more consistent supposition ; and the more so that the inutility
of a system does not necessarily imply that it should be wholly
wanting ; for we find nipples in male animals and many other

336 Dr Eschricht's Inquiries conceminj

rudimentary parts, on a diminutive scale. If, on the contrary,
the Entozoa be propagated like other animals, as extreme dif-
ficulty exists in their getting to their appropriate habitat, their
efforts must often be abortive and but rarely successful, and
hence their reproductive faculty should be great. In this lat-
ter alternative, we should expect to find the reproductive sys-
tem developed in the highest possible degree ; whilst in the
former, we should conclude, it would be reduced nearly to in-
significancy. How then stands the fact ? Concerning this
there can be no doubt. Not only is it known that the whole
generative system is immensely developed, but, moreover, its
very redundancy is so characteristic of the anatomy of intes-
tinal worms, that sometimes all their other organs have been
overlooked ; and it has happened to those engaged with the
anatomy pf these animals, that for a time they doubted whether
the common explanation of the organization were really the
true one, although eventually all such doubts were dispelled.
I shall adduce a few instances of what is here advanced, and
from my own observations.

Sect. 2. Example from the Ascaris lumbricoides. — In the
Ascaris lumbricoides the external organs of generation have
been well represented by Mr H. Cioquet ; but their internal
structure seems not hitherto to have been accurately explored.
Each of the horns of the female organs consists of several
parts, of which the one next to the smaller extremity is the
ovary; the middle part is an oviduct, and the thicker extremity,
which unites with that of the second horn to form the com-
mon vagina, is the uterus. In the axis of the ovary is a cord,
which we may call the rachis, from its relation to the ova,
these lying around it in wreaths as in the flowers of the plantago
(Plate VII. fig. 1). But the ova in the ovary (figs. 1, 2,3, 4) have
a very different form from those in the uterus (figs. 5, 6), viz.,
that of cones, the point being attached to the rachis, the basis
turning towards the external parietes. M. Cloquet's draw-
ings of these parts are but very imperfect in his beautiful mo-
nography. Dr Henle of Berlin observed and described them
in his treatise upon the Branchiobdella (Mliiler's Archiv 1835);
but although he had observed their beautiful vesicle (the
Purkingian), still he did not recognise them as ova, as was

the Origin of Intestinal IVorms. 337

subsequently however done by Dr Siebold (in Burdach Phys.
1. c). The analogy between an egg and a primitive cell can
rarely be more evident than in this instance. My attempts to
ascertain the number of ova in one female yielded the follow-
ing results : — The free end of the ovary is but l-25th of a line
in diameter. A transversal section of the ovary (fig. 1) shews
the number of ova around the rachis to be about 50, and
their diameter to be about l-500th part of a line. Hence, in
the space of one line there will be 500 wreaths or stars of 50
eggs each, so affording 25,000 ova. The length of each horn
of the female organ is about 16 feet or 2304 lines, which, for
the two horns, gives 4603 lines. If the ova, therefore, were
of the same diameter throughout, their number would amount
to 25,000 X 4608, but as they augment in size as they pro-
ceed from the ovary to the uterus, till at last they attain a dia-
meter of l-60th of a line, they will not form more than 60
wreaths or 3000 eggs in one line within the uterus. Thus,
supposing the diameter of the eggs to increase proportionally
throughout the length of the female organs, we may calculate

^, , « .25.000 + 3000 1. ^^^
the number of ova, on an average, at — ^ ^ , or 14,000

in each line ; giving the total number of eggs at 14,000 x
4608, of course more than 64,000,000, a fertility equalled only
by that of some fishes.

Sect. 3. Example from the Strong^lus inflexus. — In the
other Nematoidea the female organs are generally formed on
the same plan, and they are rarely less complicated. I shall
here adduce another example, viz. that of the Strongylus inflexus
(Rud.). This worm is extremely common in the bronchiae of the
Delphinus phccana^ and has been described by Rudolphi (Hist.
Yerm. vol. ii. p. 1 and 227) ; by Creplin (Nova? Observationes
de Entozois, Bed. 1829, p. 17-19), and by Dr Craigie of Edin-
burgh (Edin. Medical and Surg. Journal, vol. xxxviii. p. 301
and 354, Edinburgh, 1832). The last-mentioned author has
in many respects given the best description, but the advan-
tage which science might have derived from his labours was
in a great measure lost, because he at first mistook the poste-
rior extremity for the anterior, and thus regarded it as a new
species. In a supplementary paper in the same volume, he
corrected this blunder^ but unfortunately this second pftpcr

338 Dr Escliricht's Inquiries concernin(j

was little attended to. In Germany, the first report alone was
published (in Frorieps Notizen, vol. xxxvi. p. 122), and the
well-known Stron^ijlus inflexus was introduced with the very
equivocal appellation of *' Flakenwurm,"*^ which is very easily
confounded with Hamularia.

The delineations, supplied by Dr Craigie. of the posterior
extremity of the female are excellent. We add, that the same
extremity of the male has a very complicated structure. Two
dark bodies, having the form of a Roman S, constitute the
horny penis, which were, in every instance I noticed, retracted
within the body. The nature of the two round bodies which
resembled eyes, I could not discover. These two horns are
intended, I suppose, to grasp the female during copulation ;
their shape reminds us of the legs of some old-fashioned arm-
chairs : they are included in transparent membranes like
wings, and similar membranes invest the whole of this part
of the body. These female worms, when in a fresh state, pre-
sent a very beautiful appearance, as the white colour of the
horns of the uterus, formed like the beads of a rosary, con-
trast very strikingly with the adjacent black stomach and in-
testine.* From the ovaries very narrow oviducts lead into
these horns of the uterus. The internal construction of these
female organs is precisely the same as that in the Ascaris
lumbricoideSy but with this attending difference, that the young
are developed in the ova during their passage through the
oviducts and uterus. A small puncture in different parts will
allow the ova to escape, with young ones in different stages.

Sect. 4. Example from the Boihriocej)haliis latus and punc-
tatus. — In the Bothriocephalus latus the female organs are
formed in the following manner, as is more minutely described
in my treatise formerly mentioned. In each joint is found a
uterus, commonly called an ovary. It maybe unrolled in one
cylindrical tube, wider towards the head, and very narrow at
the other extremity. It is composed of two tunics, an exterior
hard one, and an interior one, very thin. On the exterior are
situate white corpuscula, which seem to be glands for the

* This black colour docs not proceed from their contents, but from the
liver, which is situate between the coals of the intestinal tube, throughout
its whole length.

the Origin of Intestinal Worms, 339

secretion of the egg-shells. The real ovary is a large gland
composed of ducts, in which the small yolks are disposed in
rows ; and it lies at each side of the uterus, near its posterior
extremity. Besides these glands, a great number of yellow
glands, 1200 in each joint, are found close beneath the skin
of the lateral parts, in the joints furthest from the head, or
in the last stage of the formation of the eggs, these glands
become filled with a thick yellow matter, which they pour
into a system of beautifully ramified ducts, which again dis-
charge themselves on a certain spot of the uterus. It would
be out of place to repeat in this place the whole series of ob-
servations which led to the conclusion that these 1200 glands
in each of the thousand joints have no other destination than
to form a crust round the ova, by means of which they are
evacuated, not singly one by one, but in hard cylindrical
masses after the uterus and joint have been ruptured. By this
observation, the curious fact that an animal with millions of
eggs is generally found solitary, seems to be explained in a
satisfactory manner.

Proceeding to the male organs of generation, I will first
mention a number of glands — about 400 in number — ^lying in
the most deep-seated layer of the joints, each gland in a sepa-
rate cellule. These glands I have reason to regard as so many
testicles. The vasa deferentia mount up in a serpentine course
to a vesicle which is analogous to the bursa lemnisci in the
Trcmatoda, and which can very easily be seen in any joint of
the Bothriocephalus latus. In this bursa lies the penis, more
or less protruded through the great aperture. The small
aperture, supposed to be the vulva, is easily distinguished in
each joint. Between this and the great aperture a great num-
ber of glands discharging themselves outwardly are observed.
This immense complication of the reproductive apparatus
apparently leaves no place for the other organs, but a more
minute investigation will demonstrate several strata of mus-
cles, an alimentary tube which, in the form of a very nar-
row bifurcated cord, extends the whole length of the ani-
mal, and other systems. The disproportion of the generative
system is so much the greater as the joints are more deve-
loped. The manner in which this disproportion is produced.

340 Dr Eschricht*s Inquiries concerning

I had a favourable opportunity of observing in the Bothrioce-
phalus punctatus, so extremely frequent in the Cottus scorpius.
During mid- summer, in almost all their joints, the uteri are
filled with ova. At the same time individual worms without
heads may be sometimes found in the lower part of the intes-
tine. These are about to be expelled ; for in other circum-
stances, all specimens of Bothriocephalus punctatus adhere by
the fore-part of the head to the mucous surface of the appen-
dices pyloricae. The want of the head in the expelled indivi-
duals makes it probable that they have left it behind in its
habitual place, and this supposition is much strengthened by
the above-mentioned observation of a number of heads adhe-
ring to the mucous surface of the appendices pyloricae between
other worms of very different lengths. The heads left behind,
after the expulsion of 'all the joints, are about to generate a
new series of joints of the most perfect kind ; and this in the
following way. The joint next the head is soon divided by a
transverse fissure into two, each of which repeats the same
process as soon as it is somewhat grown. The repetition of
this imperfect transverse division is marked, more or less, in
all the Certoidea at the joints near the head, the fissures of
later date appearing as more indistinct subdivisions between
these earlier and deeper fissures. Whilst the joints multiply
in this way, they increase in size in the same proportion, and
so of course remove the joints from the head. But at a cer-
tain distance from the head this mode of subdividing ceases,
and the whole nutritive power is applied to the development
of the organs of generation. During the winter, the Bothrio-
cephalus punctatus, always adhering firmly to the mucous sur-
face of the appendices pyloricae, is increased to its full length,
the uteri and most of the other generative organs being formed,
but no ova have yet appeared. Up to this period, the develop-
ment of the generative organs is scarcely to be considered as
disproportionate, and this is by far the best time for the exa-
mination of the other systems ; a vascular system may now be
seen ramified in innumerable anastomosing branches ; a system
of vesicles covers the skin all over ; and innumerable primitive
cells with nuclei and nucleoli, and granules of a very minute
size, are diffused throughout every part of the interior. At the

the Origin of Intestinal Worme, 341

commencement of spring the ova begin to appear in the pos-
terior joints, and by degrees fill the uteri of all the joints, till
they occupy those which are close to the head, when the sepa-
ration from the head, before described, ensues, and this last-
named member is left to repeat the important process.

Thus the Bothriocephali are composite Trematods^ whose
composition is not the result of a ramification — the mere vege-
table form — like that of the Polypi, but of transverse division,
like an imperfect generatio fissipara transversa : their relation
to the Trematoda is like that of the Corals to the Hydrce ; if
their transverse fissures had been completed, they would have
resolved themselves into as many single Trematods ; just as
the Corals would resolve themselves into as many single hydras
as they have branches, if these had separated. A single joint
of a tape-worm will not produce an entire new organism, — ^for,
to the formation of this, an ova is necessary. The numerous
divisions of the joints is intended to produce a corresponding
number of bunches of ova. just as the repeated ramification of
plants is destined to produce new bunches of seeds. The head
of the tape-worm is fixed to the mucous surface, and from it
derives the nutritive juices required for the whole organism ;
in the same manner the root procures the nourishment of the
plant from the soil. The number of joints developed with
organs destined for the evolution of these germs is very great.
The ova having reached maturity, the joints break to liberate
them ; or the whole joint will be thrown off in the same way
as the seeds of plants are freed, sometimes one by one, some-
times in masses, according to the particular manner of life as-
signed to every species of plant and animal. And is there any
one who, upon the contemplation of this wonderful apparatus,
and the extraordinary results of its agenc}^ can for a moment
imagine that it is without an object or an end ? Can it be
supposed that these ova, substantially the same as those of the
higher animals, with a regular shell, formed by millions of
glands, in every worm, and sometimes actually containing
young ones, are mere fortuitous bodies, of no value or use ?
We consider such a conclusion nearly impossible.

342 Dr Eschricht's Inquiries concerning

CHAP. V. INTESTINAL WORMS ARE IN ALL CASES THE OFFSPRING

OF OTHER INTESTINAL WORMS.

Sect. 1. Helminthiasis is coyitagious. — It is evident enough
that the three principal arguments against equivocal gene-
ration, applicable likewise to the infusoria, are most power-
ful when brought to bear upon the Entozoa. Their limitation
to distinct species is too well ascertained, their anatomy too
complicated, and their fertility too striking, not to force the
conviction upon us, that intestinal worms are the offspring of
other similar worms, and may thus deposit young, not only in
any body which they may inhabit, but in other bodies also. If
this view be correct, the Entozoa will spread by a kind of emi-
gration, and Helminthiasis may often appear epidemic or con-
tagious: and yet these characteristics seem to have escaped the
notice both of the vulgar and of physicians; and this chief-
ly because both these classes confounded the Ascaris lumbri-
coides with the common earth-worm, and so had a ready
explanation of the almost constant occurrence of the com-
plaint among children, in the supposed fact of the worm be-
ing found in the soil, and being thence conveyed into the
w^ater used for drink and for all domestic purposes. At a later
period, when the science of Helminthology was more cultivat-
ed, so many difficulties simultaneously arose as to the mode in
which the Entozoa got into the body, that it came to be gene-
rally doubted if they were introduced into the body at all, and
to be extensively believed that their equivocal generation was
the only reasonable way of explaining their appearance. Hence,
all we can now do is, to examine facts and not theories, regard-
ing the mode in which Helminthiasis is spread and propa-
gated.

The contagious nature of the complaint arising from the
presence of Ascarides lumbricoides is, I believe, evident from
the fact, that this worm not only appears in the human spe-
cies, but likewise in several animals, particularly domestic
ones, as the horse, ass, cow, hog, and also, it would seem, in
the dog and cat. This fact can never be ascribed to similarity
of diet or manner of life ; and the habitat of the parasite is
common to all these animals. The contagious character of
the Tcenia solium and the Bothriocephalus latus is perhaps Ktill

the Origin of Intestinal JVonm. 348

more easily proved. The distribution of these two species in
different coiintrics cannot arise, as has been already shewn,
from difference in diet, manner of life, or climate. The hypo-
thesis of a certain German professor, that their different distri-
bution might indicate a difference in the races of mankind, is
one of the most extraordinary examples possible of predilec-
tion for a favourite theory. If any proof against such an opi-
nion were wanting, it might be found in the fact, that the negro
in the West Indies appears to suffer from Tctnia solium ; a
worm of this species, passed by a negro, having been sent me
some years ago by Dr Raon of St Thomas. The reason why
the negro slave suffers from Taenia is not that his pedigree may
be traced from a root common to him and to the Anglo-Saxon,
but that from this source he has derived the Taenia, with many
other things, good and bad. It would be interesting to know
whether the inhabitants of the Russian colonies are subject to
the Bothriocephalus.

It is a well-known fact that Dr Sommerring suffered from
a Bothriocephalus latus, and it was by an examination of this
specimen that the specific character of this kind of worm was
ascertained. When the fact was first known, Sommerring
was supposed to belong to a Swiss family, but, as this was not
the case, the origin of the worm was ascribed to his residence
in Switzerland ; not that his body was so altered in this coun-
try as spontaneously to produce a Bothriocephalus instead of
a Taenia, nor that the food of the country was so peculiar as
to be thus metamorphosed, but merely because an ova or
young one of the species was here introduced into the frame.

A striking example of the inconsistency of human belief is
afforded by the opinion generally received in some countries
respecting the Filaria medinensis. This species of Filaria has
all the characters of an intestinal worm, and still has been
supposed to be introduced from without, whilst all the others
have been held to arise spontaneously. It is endemical in
Guinea, and attacks Europeans as well as negroes. Its pre-
sence is not observed for a time, sometimes for a couple of
yeare, as was proved by the case of a boy who suffered from
this worm at Copenhagen, two years after his departure from
Guinea.

As the view that the Kntozoa multiply like other animaU

344 Dr Eschricht*s Inquiries concerning

necessarily throws light upon the mode of the propagation
of Helminthiasis, so the mode of the propagation of the dis-
ease serves, in its turn, as an argument for the common gene-
ration of the animals which produce it. This remark may be
applied to the Ccenurus cerehralis ; for the disease produced
by this worm, — the common sturdy, or gid, or giddiness of
sheep, — often rages amongst these animals as a virulent con-
tagion. The disastrous effects of the Distoma hepaticum^ — -
the fluke-worm, so well known in Rot, — are, in many countries,
an object of dread to the farmers : this worm, too, occurs in
man and calves, as well as in sheep. Among fishes, too, some
intestinal worms, e, g. the Bothriocephaliis soUclus in stickle-
backs, appears to rage in certain years like other contagious
diseases.

The fact that intestinal worms have been found in new-born
animals, and even previous to birth, has been noticed as an un-
answerable proof of their spontaneous origin. How otherwise,
it is demanded, could these worms get into the] young ? This
inquiry should be met with another, Did it not exist in the mo-
ther ? In some instances we know that it did ; in the same
way that smallpox spreads from mother to child, although the
exact mode of communication cannot well be traced.

If, then, intestinal worm.s get into the body as offspring of
other intestinal worms, the inquiry presents itself, what are the
various methods in which this actually happens 1 It has been
a great disadvantage to science, that the disbelievers in equi-
vocal generation have been satisfied with the supposition that
intestinal worms were always introduced into the body with
the food ; and also that the advocates of the doctrine, in their
laborious inquiries, have disregarded those appearances which
might have indicated the mode in which the Entozoa were ac-
tually introduced. The manner in which animals provide for
the safety of their offspring is known to be so exceedingly va-
rious, and peculiar even to each species, that it can scarcely
ever be conjectured beforehand. Hence there is but one way
of solving the problem, viz. inquiring into nature. As to the
Entozoa, the information hitherto obtained may be compre-
hended in the following- facts.

o

Sect. 2. The Entozoa verg commonig change their abode at
different periods of their /^<?.^— Every anatomist must have been

the Origin of Intestinal Worms. 345

surprised to find in almost every horse an aneurysmatical sac
filled with specimens of Strongylus annatus in the mesenteric
artery, near its origin from the aorta. The specimens here
are always young ones, whilst the old animals are generally
found in the larger intestines. {Fide Rudolphi, Entoz. Hist,
vol. ii. Pars i. pp. 205-207.)

After I had observed the living young in the ova of the
Strongylus inflexus^ nothing appeared more explicable than
their method of passing from one porpoise to another. As
the worm frequents the bronchite, with its head immersed in
the substance of the lungs, and its tail extended into the larger
branches of the trachea, or into the trachea itself, the living
young at birth must naturally escape into the mouth, and as
porpoises commonly livein company, the young worms would,
by a short passage through the water, readily be introduced into
the mouth of another porpoise, and so reach the trachea. This
view appears the more probable, as, in company with the large
Stronggli infiexi, there commonly are found smaller ones ly-
ing loosely in the branches of the trachea, which Rudolphi
considers of the same species. This assertion, I maintain,
is erroneous. Tlic smaller ones have not only a different
shape, but their reproductive organs are as much developed
as are those of the large ones ; the penis is always protrud-
ed, and of a different shape, the uteri are full of ova and liv-
ing young. Thus, I cannot but regard these smaller worms
as of a different species, which I propose to designate Stron-
gglus vagans.* A certain condition of the lungs in the por-
poise appears favourable to the supposed migration of the
Strongyli inflexi. In almost all porpoises the lungs are full of
tubercles, each of which, on a closer inspection, is found to
contain a small worm rolled up like a ball. In this worm the
essential characters of the species cannot indeed be ascertained,
but as these characters are all taken from the reproductive or-
gans, this inability is the consequence of the organs not being
sufficiently developed. The young ones, of course, might be

* Several reasons have induced mo to regard the Strongylits inJUxus as the
type of a peculiar genus, of which this smaller worm {Str. vagans) would bo
a second'species, and various others, found in other species of the Cetacea,
I hope soon to have an opportunity of describing.

346 Dr Eschriclit"'s Inquiries concerning

supposed to get through the glottis into the trachea, and, pro-
ceeding along its ramifications, at last effect a passage into the
substance of the lungs. Other observations, however, make
this hypothesis very doubtful, or at least prove that this me-
thod of spreading themselves is not the only one. It is well
known, that De la Motte (Klein, Hist. Pise. Missus, V^"^' xxv.)
and Camper (Krankleithen der Thiere, p. 47) have observed
these worms, viz. the Strong, vagans^ in the sinuses of the head
of the porpoise. From the description given by Professor Rapp
of Tubingen (in his Monography of the Cetacea, 1837, p. 98)
of the ear of the porpoise, we might suspect these sinuses to be
nothing more than appendices to the cavity of the tympanum ;
but this is certainly not the case with them all. Both the
Strong, inflexus and vagans are very common in the blood-
vessels, the arteries as well as the veins ; and, what is still
more important, their presence in the bloodvessels seems to
be antecedent to their sojourn in the aerial tube; just as the
presence of the Strong, armatus, is antecedent to their sojourn
in the alimentary canal. In a young male porpoise, about a
year old, I found no worms in the trachea and its branches,
a very nire case ; but the lungs were, as usual, occupied by
tubercles, in which were small rolled-up worms ; and in the
pulmonary artery I found two male Stronggli inflexi, somewhat
smaller in size than they usually appear in the trachea, and
presenting a very convoluted appearance ; upon which I re-
membered, that Professor Baer (Acta Leop. Carol, vol. xiii.p. 2)
had found a long worm in the vena azygos, and another in the
pulmonary artery of the porpoise, most likely the same Strong,
inflexus. The migrations of these worms through the body of
the porpoise it may be difficult to ascertain, and the more so
as porpoises are rarely to be procured except in spring, when
they enter the creeks and bays for the purpose of breeding.
But if we compare these observations with those concerning
the Strongylus armatus, \he hypothesis will appear probable that
the Strongyli in general, pass a portion of their life in the
bloodvessels.

The most important case of the changes of an intestinal
worm with which I am acquainted, is that of the Ligulas,
otherwise the Bothriocephalus solidus. It is a well-ascertained
fact, that this worm, under its former modification, passes a

the Origin of Intestinal irorms, 347

part of its life in the abdominal cavity of fishes, and in this
state has neither reproductive organs nor head ; but that if
swallowed by sea-birds, and perhaps by seals, it obtains these
essential parts, in the intestines of these animals. The changes
of structure, however, cannot interfere with the fact, that the
Entozoa sometimes undergo a change of abode from one ani-
mal to another, but may be adduced as proofs that such changes
of abode are sometimes necessary for the perfect development
of the intestinal worms. Even Rudolplii, the zealous defender
of the spontaneous origin of the Entozoa, was so impressed by
this fact, that he advanced this view, which he had considered
so erroneous when proposed by Bremser. {Vide Entozoorum
Synopsis, p. 596.)

Sect. 3. The Entozoa or Intestinal JVorms are very commonly^
subject to Metamorphoses. That metamorphosis occurs could
scarcely fail to be deduced from the general observation, that,
wherever young ones were found in the parent intestinal worm,
they never resembled that parent, and sometimes entirely dif-
fered from it.

As one instance of this, we may mention the observation of
Dr Jacobson at Copenhagen on Filaria medinensis^ communi-
cated by Mr Blainville in the " Annales des Sciences Natu-
relles." In the interior of this worm he fovmd a great number
of young living worms, as Rudolphi had found before (Synopsis,
p. 206), but they were so dissimilar to their parent, that he
doubted Avhether they might not be parasitical worms within
the parasite. Again, in the Echinorhynchi^ which also pro-
duce their young alive, precisely the same remark of the dif-
ference between the young and the parent has been made by
Dr Siebold (Burdach Phys. 2 edit. 1. c). The same observa-
tion may be applied to the Cestoidea, in many of which the
young have been observed in the eggs (Siebold, 1. c.) ; the
head in all being first formed and provided with six hooks. Of
the embryo of Taenia solium a delineation has lately been
given by Mr Dujardin in the Annal. des Sc. Nat. 1838.

The most astonishing instance of metamorphosis, however,
if I mistake not, is that observed by Dr Siebold, and related in
Wiegmann's Archiv (vol. i. 1835). It refers to the Monostoma
nmtabUcy which frequents various parts of certain water-fowls,
produces its young alive, these not having the slightest re-

348 Dr Eschricht's hiquiries concerning

semblance to the mother. In the intestines of these young
ones, there is a certain part already existing dm'ing their
stay in the ova within their parent, which is changed in the
most extraordinary manner into another intestinal worm, ap-
pently belonging to quite a different genus, viz. that of the
Distoma. Thus in the bird, the worm has a young one, in
which a third is developed, but the young one is soon after its
birth destroyed by the youngest, which thus becomes free.
This very singular enclosing of one generation within another
has been interpreted by some authors as a multiplied spon-
taneous development, or as a series of abortive attempts of the
formative power. The constancy, however, of the fact forces
us rather to consider it as a series of metamorphoses ; and the
rather, as more than a single worm is never included in each
individual, and this one invariably. As the young in the last
observed stage are still as different from the parent as in the
former ones, it may be a question whether this metamorphosis
is the last.

Again, the well-known observations of Nitzsch, Bojanus,
Baer, and more lately of Siebold (1. c), on the Cercarice, and
the curious living sacs in which they are developed ; those of
Bojanus on the Distoma duplicatum and Bucephalus polymor-
j)hus, and those of Cams on the Leucochloridium paradoxum,
all appear to us, in the present state of the science, in the light
of most extraordinary facts, chiefly because they are like the
first -discovered plants of a terra incognita, which promises the
richest harvest to future inquirers.

Sect. 4. The manner of Prop>agation of the Entozoa supposed
to be very complicated. — It being once established that intesti-
nal worms regularly change their forms and abodes, we cannot
much wonder that their mode of introduction into the body
can never be divined. If we turn our attention to the history
of those creatures whose change of abode and shape is more
familiar, we may demand. Was there one case among them in
which that history could have been ascertained in any other
way than by the most laborious research, or which, if conjec-
tured, would not have been considered altogether fabulous .''
Thus is it with the development of the Ichnewnons in the inte-
rior of other insects, and with the various methods in which the
mother-ichneumon introduces the ova into these insects I The

the Origin of Intestinal Worms. 349

Bots or horse-flies too {CEstrua equi), always appearing first
in the dung of this quadruped, who could have anticipated the
real source whence it sprung ! It is now known, beyond dis-
pute, that the parent fly deposits its ova upon the coat of a
horse, within reach of the animal's tongue ; that these are in-
troduced into the animars stomach without being injured ; that
tliere the larvae are disclosed, and immediately attach themselves
to the mucous surface of the stomach, and at last pass through
the whole length of the intestinal tube, and are discharged.
And^ moreover, the newly-discovered metamorphoses of the
Cirriped animals and the Lernce, described in the magnifi-
cent memoirs of Nordmann (Mikrographische Beitrage), m
the researches of John V. Thompson of Cork and of others,
do they not all tend to demonstrate that a variety exists in
the development of the lower animals, which surpasses the
imagination of man ? Such facts having been revealed to
the naturalists of our day, surely many others equally mar-
vellous are reserved for naturalists of future times. As for
the intestinal worms, all things tend to prove, that the greater
the difficulties which these animals experience in conveying
their young to the appointed places of safety, the more strange
and peculiar are the means employed by them for that pur-
pose, under the provident bounty of nature. Respecting these
means, abundant hypotheses may be proposed. The fact, for
example, that the flesh of fishes in summer is often bestudded
with small worms (which, in one instance, I ascertained to be
Echinorhynchi), might lead to the supposition that it is the
breeding-place of some species ; the same suggestion might be
offered with regard to the small twisted worms often found in
the flesh and cellular tissue, and commonly called Filariae ;
the Trichina spiralis, discovered by Owen, may perhaps be-
long to the same category ; and all vesicular worms may be
regarded as the earlier states of other species, an hypothesis
which is strengthened by the fact, that no reproductive or-
gans have been found in them, an occurrence always marking
an early stage of development in intestinal worms. The
monthly exacerbation of symptoms observed in helminthiasis,
the itching of the nose in children suffering from worms, may,
somehow or other, be connected with the history of these

VOL. XXXI, NO. LXII. — OCTOBER 1841. S

350 Dr Eschricht's Inquiries toncerning

troublesome guests. But all such hypotheses are of very lit-
tle value ; and the answer to the inquiry, how intestinal worms
are propagated, is to be obtained only by long and laborious
investigations into nature, and will probably be found very
different in different species.

That the inquiry will he long and laborious will not be
doubted, when we reflect on the history of the instances re-
ferred to : and the labour must needs be far greater than
that which is usually bestowed upon inquiries of this kind by
medical men. The case of the Sarcoptes may serve as an il-
lustration. For many years its existence was known from the
tales of fishermen and galley-slaves, but medical men could
nowhere find it. At last, a young French student had the
effrontery, before the French Academy, to mingle mites with
the humour evacuated from the pustules of the itch, and thus
the insect producing the itch was for about twenty years re-
garded as an acarus ; at length the Corsican peasants were
consulted, and they pointed out the way in which the real Sar-
coptes might be discovered. All the while this parasite was
as common as the itch itself, and large enough to be easily
detected by the naked eye !

That a particular inquiry will he required for each particular
species, may be concluded from the fact, that each species se-
lects generally certain animals, and in these certain regions ;
as, for instance, the Lemma elongata (whose anatomy has been
given by Dr Robert Grant) selects the eye of the Greenland
shark, the Coronula balcenaris the skin of whales, the Otion
auritum^ the Coronula, different species of Pinnotheres select
certain species of living bivalves, and the Paguri certain uni-
valvular shells.

As a most curious instance of this predilection of parasites
for certain localities, we may mention the parasites which re-
gularly, in winter, fill a particular sac connected with the tes-
tis of the Cephalopoda. These parasites have lately been in-
troduced by Dr Carus into the parasite fauna under the name
of Needhamia. (His memoir will be published in the next
volume of the Acta Leopoldino- Carolina.) Swammerdam fur-
nished the first description of them ; Needham, in his micro-
scopical observations, nearly a century ago, supplied a good

the Origin of Intestinal Jforms, S5i

account and drawing of those from the Loligo, calling them
seminal vessels. Those from the Mediterranean Octopus^
were slightly described by Cuvier as '* les fameux filamens,
machines ou animalcules decouverts par Needham," and are
apparently the species minutely described by Carus as Need^
hamia expulsoria. Those from the Sepia officinalis are repre-
sented by Professor Rudolph Wagner of Erlangen as bemg
very like Echinorhynchi^ which implies a very different form.
In an Octopus from St Thomas's, I lately found in the same
sac adhering to the testis, a number of Needhamiae, forming a
new species.

Sect. 5. The Spermatozoa are not Parasitic Animals. — These
curious bodies being regarded parasitical, a very different opinion
must be formed respecting the Spermatozoa. The modern in-
quiries by Rud. Wagner, Valentin, Henle, Siebold, (Sec, which
may all be found in Rud. Wagner's recent Manual of Physiology
(of which the first volume appeared in 1839), have furnished
science with several very important new facts, the most
striking of which is the gradual and regular development of
the Spermatozoa in small sacs. Being thus proved to be es-
sential parts of the seminal fluid, they must be considered
as analogous to the globules of the blood. Their apparently
voluntary motion by no means warrants the inference that
they are distinct animals. The continuance of motion in mi-
croscopical parts of the body, after they have been separated
from it, may be seen in the cilise upon the epithelial cells of
certain mucous membranes, forming the famous vibratory mo-
tions of Dr Sharpey, Purkinje, and Valentin. This analogy
may be regarded the stronger, as no internal organs are found
in the Spermatozoa ; and we are not aware of any fact in-
dicating their power of propagating their own species. In
the Nematoidean worms, I have observed a certain condition
of the analogous parts, which perhaps may throw new light
upon their mysterious functions. The testis of the Ascaris
lumhricoides is well known to have the same cylindrical form
as the horns of the female organs. The structure of the in-
terior also seems to be analogous. I believe I have observed
a central cord analogous to the rachis {vide supra) of the

352 Dr Eschricht's hiquiries concerning

ovary, although I could never succeed in detaching it. Around
this central cord, or rachis, bodies are found with a rather irregu-
lar form, but not unlike the ova in the ovary, including a
transparent vesicle apparently analogous to the Purkinjian. In
fact, they are also very lil^e primitive cells, and the same re-
mark might be made upon the ova in the ovary, and perhaps
it is an analogy common to these Spermatozoan sacs and to
ova. In the wide caudal extremity of the male organs, evi-
dently analogous to the uterus, instead of Spermatozoa, there
always appeared globular bodies, covered with small grains,
and somewhat resembling the dust of pollen. Are these glo-
bular bodies sacs for Spermatozoa ? are they analogous to the
ova of the female % The results which might be deduced from
such an analogy are too singular for me here to venture upon
a statement of them.

Sect. 6. Several Cutaneous Eruptions are Parasite Crypto-
gamous Plants communicated hg Contact. — That several dis-
eases, particularly of the skin, are to be referred to parasite
cryptogamous plants, whilst others are produced by parasite
animals, is a fact which has been lately ascertained. I here
allude especially to the Muscardine, that contagious disease of
silk-worms which is so much dreaded by the breeders of silk-
worms in Lombardy, and which is characterized by a white
eruption breaking out over the body soon after the death of
the worm. M. Bassi found this eruption to be owing to a
cryptogamous plant ; and the question occurs, whether does
the plant give rise to the disease, or the disease to the plant 2
M. Audouin had some specimens of silk-worms labouring un-
der the disease sent to Paris, and confirmed the observation
of M. Bassi, that the eruption was formed by a cryptoga-
mous plant. He examined its sporules, and introduced them
into the skin of healthy worms, which speedily sickened, and
died in ten days after the appearance of the eruption. A
farther examination shewed, that, during the progress of the
disease, the plant was grooving beneath the skin. (Ann. des
Sc. Nat. 1837, October.)

Dr Schonlein of Zurich has lately (Mull. Archiv. 1839, 1)
examined certain cutaneous affections (especially the Porrigo

the Origin of hitestinal TTorms. 353

lupinosa)y and found them to consist of cryptogamous plants.
I have made a similar observation respecting the Aphthoi of
children, though, at the same time, I must confess that I am not
so conversant with the microscopical structure of plants, com-
pared with that of pathological formations, as to consider my-
self an authority on the point. To suppose aphthae contagi-
ous, would undoubtedly be contrary to the prevailing opinion,
though several facts induce me to suspect them to be so. In
Greenland this disease is not known. In a family of my ac-
quaintance which lived there for many years, none of the chil-
dren born during their residence in the country suffered from
it, whereas all those born after the family returned to Co-
penhagen suffered from it as do most other new-bom chil-
dren in that city. This may be ascribed to a difference of
climate, but in the Greenland houses a high temperature is
maintained ; or to a difference of diet, but the Danish families
in Greenland live upon provisions sent from Denmark, with
a few slight differences, such as that of eating the flesh of the
reindeer for that of oxen.

CHAP. VI. CONCLUSION.

Sect. 1. General Bemarks upon Parasitical Life, — After
what has been said in the foregoing chapter, it might be re-
garded as established, 1. That parasitic life exists everywhere
around and within other organisms. The soil is adapted to
plants, plants for the use of animals, and animals (although
wholly appropriated to their individual use) appear to be sub-
jected to the use of parasites. As examples, we might adduce
any one of those instanced in the foregoing pages concern-
ing intestinal worms ; I shall, however, take an illustration of
my remark from a different class of parasite animals. The
univalvular molluscum adapts the form of its shell to its own
use, but this form is at the same time precisely adapted to the
use of a pagurus, whose whole body is twisted like this shell ;
whose claws exactly fill up its opening ; whose tail is naked
and provided with very minute limbs, enabling it to creep
within the shell, and nowhere else. 2. That parasitic life,
though wholly dependent upon other animals for support, ori-
ginates and is propagated in conforjnity with tjie same gen^yal

354 Dr Eschricht's Inquiries concerning

laws as those of other living beings, modifications, as usual,
existing according to the particular wants of each animal.
3. That a chief character of parasitic life is its concealment,
escaping the attention of those who are its victims. Every pa-
rasitic animal is the offspring of that provident mother Nature,
and, as much care is taken for the preservation of a disgusting
tape-worm as for that of a higher organism. Unprovided,
apparently, with organs of sense, or even with a brain, and ex-
tremely slow in its motions, it finds means of securing itself
and its young : whilst the human understanding is unable to
imagine what these means are, or declares it impossible that
any such should exist.

Sect. 2. Jnfusory Animalcules compared with Entozaa. The
general remarks concerning infusoria were found applicable
also to the Entozoa. Again, what has been stated concern-
ing the Entozoa and their relation to the bodies they in-
fest, may be applied to the infusoria and their relation to the
terrestrial world. If we are correct in maintaining that the
inquiry as to the mode in which these animals propagate and
acquire a footing in their extraordinary habitats, demands a
particular answer for each separate species, which is to be an-
swered in each case only by a long and laborious investigation,
the remark is equally applicable to the infusory animalcules,
whose different species select some pure cold water, others
acid or salt fluids, and others hot mineral springs ; and to in-
fusory plants, of which particular species seem to be associated
with every variety of fermentation, as observed by Dr Schwann
and M. Caignard-Latour.

Sect. 3. The two opposite Theories cotnpared in relation to
Experimental Physiology/, — To suppose that ova and seeds are
antecedent to animals and plants, wherever they appear, is
considered by the defenders of spontaneous generation as con-
trary to the genius of experimental physiology ; and there might
be some truth in the reflection, if the hypothesis necessarily
induced an indifference which was satisfied with this explana-
tion ; but it is useless, as well as untrue, when it only adds a
spur to the discovery of the occult phenomena connected with
their curious history. On the other hand, the theory of equi-
vocal goneratiou may appear favourable to experimental phy.

the Origin of Intestinal Worms, 356

siology so long as it prompts to inquiry concerning the mode
in which this supposed self-formation takes place ; whilst it is
quite the reverse so soon as it closes the eye to any fact which
leads to the discovery of the obscure history of parasites. The
supposition of undiscovered ova and seeds is certainly contrary
to the genius of physiology, when abused by the invention of
fanciful theories concerning their appearance ; but this is only
allowing that every theory may be abused, not excepting that
of equivocal generation, which the history of physiology very
sufficiently proves.

When a naturalist, in spite of all his pains, fails to discover
the supposed ova or seeds, it may look like simple truth to as-
sert that *' there are none ;" whereas, all that can be legiti-
mately inferred is, that he has found none ; and his declara-
tion is merely the result of a vain presumption of his ability
to penetrate the hidden mysteries of nature.

It is, generally speaking, much safer to trust to generally
prevailing laws, than to confide in such of our observations as
are contrary to them. This remark may be applied to the
assertion that plants are formed of granite, distilled water,
and oxygen, under the influence of solar light. It ought to be
remembered, that sometimes, in common life, the appearance
or disappearance of a body seems impossible, and still, some-
how or other, is effected ; and yet, in such cases, we do not
have recourse to equivocal generation. This remark frequent-
ly applies to the appearance of higher plants and animals in
places where it is impossible to account for them, as after
great conflagrations, or the draining of lakes and inlets of the
sea, or of fishes in the lakes of volcanic islands. Such facts,
however, instead of proving the existence of equivocal gene-
ration, ought only to teach us the difficulty of investigating
the powers of nature, and demonstrate that we are incapable
of accounting for the appearance of such. plants and animals
as could not be supposed to be produced by spontaneous gene-
ration without absurdity.

Sect. 4. The Analogy between the supposed Equivocal Gene-
ration and Creation refuted. — Creation is sometimes referred
to in favour of equivocal generation. The following is the
language adopted :— " It is certain a time existed when oven

356 Dr Eschricht's Inquiries concerning, ^c,

the highest organisms were brought into existence without
a progenitor ; and hence such formations are not impossible.
Creating power was then in its pristine vigour, now it is
weaker ; but that it should have totally ceased is improbable ;
on the contrary, it might be inferred, a priori, were it not
proved by facts, that it still exists, at least as concerns the
lowest plants and animals.'* But in referring to creation, the
defenders of equivocal generation appeal to what may now
be properly styled a miracle, that is to say, an act contrary to
the established laws of nature ; and this appeal is inadmis-
sible, because the actual phenomena can be explained only by
actually prevailing laws. Even were the appeal admitted, our
decision would be against the appellants ; for 'the analogy be-
tween equivocal generation and creation has ceased with the
discovery that the Infusoria, as well as the Entozoa, form well-
marked and distinct species. Once proved, then, that these
animals, wherever they appear, belong to the species already
known; it is also proved that their creation has ceased, as has
that of other animals ; for creation is not a re-production, but a
first production, — and from nothing.

Explanation of the Plate VII.*

Figs. 1-6, Ova; Figs. 7-9, Spermatozootical bodies of Ascaris lumbricoid^t.
(Fu^ p. 336 and 352.)

Fig. 1. A transversal section of the ovary, l-25th of a line in diameter.
The ova, about 50 in number, about l-60th of a line long, and 1 -450th
broad; they form a wreath around the rachis. (Vide p. 336.)

Fig. 2. Four ova separated, taken from the lower part of the ovary. Their
length is about 1-1 5th of a line, the foramen in the middle is the Pur-
kinjian vesicle, a represents a transversal cut of the rachis.

Figs. 3-5. Shew the gradual metamorphosis of the ova.

Fig. 6. A fully developed ova of the uterus, provided with a calcareous shell,
and a layer of transparent horn.

Fig. 7. Spermatozootical bodies from the middle part of the testis of Ascaris
lumbricoides. The foramen in the middle may be regarded as the nucleus
of the cell, or as a Purkinjian vesicle.

Fig. 8. One of the horns, l-120th of a line in length and 1-lOOth of a line in
diameter ; the sperm of the semen of the Ascaris lumbricoides here be-
comes milky. It consists of a central vesicle (fig. 9.), surrounded by
a number of smaller ones.

# The Plate for this Memoir will be delivered in next number of tbe Journal.

Arrangement of Minerals, 357

Tabular View of an Arrangement of Min-erals founded upon

Physical and Chemical Characters,

(Concluded from p. 182.)

B« Zlarthy llXineralss
Minerals in most cases composed of one earth or more, fre-
quently coloured by metallic oxides, especially those of
iron.

Order I. MICA.

Not metallic. Cleavage distinctly axotomous. Streak
white . . . green. Hardness = 1.0 — 4.5. Sp. gr. = 2.3 — 3.4.
Genus I. Mica.
Rhombohedral. Prismatic and Hemiprismatic. Streak white...
green. Hardness = 1.0 — 2.5. Sp. gr. = 2.7 — 3.0.

1, Prismatic Mica or Talc. 2. Hemiprismatic or di-axial Mica,
(Common Mica). 3. Rhombohedral or mono-axial Mica.

Genus H. Margarite {Pearl-Mica).
Rhombohedral. Hemiprismatic. Hardness = 3.5 — 4.5. Sp.gr
3.0... 3.1.

1. Rhombohedral Margarite (Clintonite). 2. Hemiprismatic Mar-
garite {^Common Fearl-Mica). 3. Axotomous Margarite (Py-
rosmalite of Hausmann).

Genus HI. Cronstedite {3Ielan€-Mica).
Rhombohedral. Streak dark leek-green. Hardness = 2.5. Sp.
gr. = 3.3 — 3.4.

1. Rhombohedral Cronstedite.

Genus IV. Hydromagnesite {Kuphone Mica).
Rhombohedral. Hardness = 2.0. Sp. gr. = 2.3 — 2.4.
1. Rhombohedral Hydromagnesite,

Order II. GRAPHITE.

Metallic, not metallic. Streak black or brown; streak
shining. Hardness = 0.5 — 2.0. Sp. gr. = 1.8 — 3.7.

Genus I. Graphite.
Rhombohedral. Metallic. Hardness = 1.0 — 2.0. Sp. gr. =
1.8 — 2.1.

1. Rhombohedral Graphite or Plumbago.

Genus II. Manganese Froth.
Amorphous. Aspect imperfect metallic. Hardness = 0.5. Sp.
gr. =; 3.7i

558 Arrant; ement of Minerals.

1, Spumaceous Manganese-Froth. {Black Wad. Scaly brown man-
ganese-ore, Manganesehydratemetalloide argentine J Haiiy. Man-
ganese schaum. Brauner Eisenrahm, in part).

Genus III. Manganesian Earthy Cobalt.
Amorphous. Aspect not metallic. Hardness = 1.0 — 1.5. Sp.
gr. = 2.2.

1. Uncleavable Manganesian Earthy Cobalt {Black Cobalt- Ochre.
Schwarzer Erdkobold. Erd Kolalt).

Order III. STEATITE.

Not metallic. Streak white. Hardness = 1.5 — ^4.0. Sp.
gr. =2.47— '3.0.

Genus I. Steatite.

Pseudomorphous. Amorphous. Hardness = 1.5 — 3.0. Sp.gr.
= 2.6 — 2.92.

1. Common Steatite. 2. Glyphine-Steatite (^^fa/wa^o/iYe or i<'«^wre-
stone).

Genus II. Serpentine.
Rhombohedral. Prismatic. Cleavage very imperfect. Hardness
= 2.0 — 3.0. Sp. gr. = 2.5 — 2.9. If hardness = 3.0 and less, it
is rhombohedral, or sp. gr. 2.5 — 2.6.

1. Rhombohedral Serpentine, or Finite. 2. Prismatic Serpentine
(Serpentine of geologists ) .

Genus III. Picrosmine.*
Prismatic. Hemiprismatic. Tetarto- prismatic. Cleavage distinct
in many directions. Hardness = 2.0 — 4.0. Sp. gr. = 2.4 — 2.7.
1. Prismatic Picrosmine. 2. Peritomous Picrosmine (Killinite).
3. Hemiprismatic Picrosmine {Marmolite), 4. Tetarto-pris-
matic Picrosmine (Pyrallolite).

Order IV. SPAR.

Not metallic. Streak white, reddish-brown, blue. Hard-
ness = 3.5 -^ 7.0. Sp. gr. = 2.0 — 3.7.

t
Genus I. Schillerite.

Prismatic. Hemiprismatic. Tetarto-prismatic. Cleavage mo-
notomous, perfect. Metallic pearly lustre. Hardness = 3.5 — 6.0.
Sp.gr. =2.6 — 3.4.

1. Common Schillerite {Diafamous Schillerite'). 2. Bronze Schil-
lerite or Bronzite {Hemiprismatic Schillerite^ or Foliated Antho^

* ricrosmine, from vrix^is, bitter, and Ufih, odour, in allusion to vhat is
called tbo bitter odour of the moistened mineral.

Arrangement of Minerals. 888

phylUte), 3. Hypersthene Schillerite. {Prismatoidal Schillerife).
4. Radiated Schillerite {Prismatic Schillerite or Radiated Antho-
phyllite).

Genus II. Augite.
Prismatic. Hemiprismatic. Tetar to- prismatic. Cleavage not
very perfect, and distinctly prismatoidal. No metallic pearly lustre,
and no very distinct common pearly lustre. Hardness = 4.5 — 7.0.
Sp.gr. =2.7— -3.6.

1. Pyroxene Augite {Paratomous Avgite). 2. Homblende-Augite
{Hemiprismatic Avgite), 3. Epidote- Augite {Prismatoidal Au-
gite or Pistacite).

Genus III. Kyanite.
Hemiprismatic and Tetartoprismatic. Cleavage prismatoidal, very
perfect and distinct. Common pearly lustre. Hardness = 5.0 — 7.0.
Sp.gr. =3.2 — 3.7.

1. Prismatic Kyanite {Rhatizile, Disthene). 2. Diaspore-Kyanite.
3. Prismatoidal Kyanite {Sillimanite).

ttt

Genus IV. Triphane.
Prismatic. Cleavage rather distinct in one direction. Colour not
blue. Hardness = 6.0 — 7.0. Sp. gr. = 2.8 — 3.2.

1. Prismatic Triphane, or Spodumene {Spodumen-wern). 2. Axo-
tomous Triphane, or Prehnite.

tttt

Genus V. Datolite.
Prismatic. Cleavage imperfect and difficult. Colour not blue
Hardness = 5.0 — 5.5. Sp. gr. = 2.9 — 3.0.
1. Prismatic Datolite.

ttttt

Genus VI. Amphigene.
Tessular. Cleavage hexahedral, dodecahedral. Streak white —
blue. Hardness = 5.5 — 6.0. Sp. gr. = 2.25 — 2.5.

1. Trapezoidal Amphigene, or Leucitc. 2. Dodecahedral Amphi-
gene, or Azure-stone {Sodalite, Spinellane, Nosine, Hauyne, It-
ternite, Lapis lazuli).

Genus VII. Zeolite.
Tessular. Rhombohedral. Pyramidal. Prismatic. Hemipris-
matic. Hardness = 3.5 — 5.5. Sp. gr. = 2.0 — 2.5.

1. Hexahedral Zeolite {Analcime). 2. Paratomous Zeolite {Cross-stone,
Harmotome). 3. Staurotypous Zeolite {Phillipsite. Lime-
ffarmotomef Connell). 4, Rhombohedral Zeolite (Chabasite).

360 Arrangement of Minerals,

5. Levyne-Zeolite. 6. Hexagonal Zeolite {Gmelintte). 7. Biato-
moiis Zeolite (Laumonite). 8. Prismatic Zeolite {Mesotype
Fibrous Zeolite. Natrolite). 9. Skolczite Zeolite {Mesotype of the
Feroe Islands), \0. Com\)iomiQ ZQoXiiQ {Mesole of Berzelius'),
11. Orthotomous Zeolite {Thomsonite). 12. Prismatoidal Zeolite
{Radiated Zeolite of Wern. Stilhite, H. in part). 13. Hemi-
prismatic Zeolite {Foliated Zeolite. Heulandite. Stilhite in part,
H.) 14. Diplogenous Zeolite {Epistilbite, R.) 15. Megallogo-
nous Zeolite {Brewster ite). 16. Pyramidal Zeolite {Apophyllite).

tttttt

Genus VIII. Edingtonite.
Pyramidal. Cleavage peritomous. Hardness =: 4.0 — 4.5. Sp.
gr. =2.7 — 2.75.

1. Pyramidal Edingtonite {Hemipyramidaler Feldspath, Haid) .
Genus IX. Elaine-Spar.*
Rhombohedral. Pyramidal. Cleavage not axotomous. Hardness
= 5.0 — 6,0. Sp. gr. = 2.4 — 2.8.

1. Ilhombohcdral Elaine-Spar, or Nepheline {Fettstein, Sornmite).
2. Pyramidal Elaine-Spar, or Meionite {Scapolite, Wernerite Pa-
ranthine). 3. Peritomous Elaine-Spar or Davyne.

Genus X. PETALITE.f

Prismatic. Cleavage perfect in one direction. Hardness = 6.0
— 6.5. Sp. gr. = 2.4 — 2.5.
1, Prismatic Petalite.

Genus XI. Felspar.
Hemiprismatic and Tetarto-prismatic. Cleavage perfect in two
rectangular or nearly rectangular directions. Hardness = 6.0. Sp.
gr. =2.5 — 2.78.

1. Common Felspar {Orthotomous Felspar, Ice-Spar , Feldstein in
part). 2. Ryakolite-Felspar(G/a*5i/ Felspar in part). 3. Spo-
dumene-Felspar {Natron Spodumenc of Berzelius. Oligohlase
Breit). 4. Albite-Felspar (including part of common felspar of
some authors. Schorl hlanc, Rome de I'lsle. Albit, G. Rose,
and Leonli). 5. Anorthite-Felspar {Anorthite, G.Rose, Chris-
tianite Monticelli). 6. Polychromatic or Labrador Felspar.
Genus XII. Chiastolite.
Prismatic. Black marking in the interior of the crystals. Hard-
ness = 5.0 — 5.5. Sp. gr. = 2.9 — 2.95.
1. Prismatic Chiastolite.

* Elaine f from tXa/ev, oil, in allusion to its oily aspect.
t Petalite, from mrxXos, expanded, in reference to the great magnitude of
the primitive angle,

Arrangement of Minerals^ 361

Genus XIII. Almandine-Spar.
Rhombohedral. Colour red. Hardness = 5.0 — 5.5. Sp. gr.
= 2.84^2.89.

1. Rhombohedral Almandine-Spar, or Eudyalite.
Genus XIV. Azure-Spar.
Prismatic. Amorphous. Cleavage imperfect. Colour blue —
green. Hardness = 5.0 — 6.0. Sp. gr. = 2.75 — 3.1.

1. Prismatic Azure-Spar or Lazulite. 2. Prisraatoidal Azure -Spar,
or Blue-Spar. 3. Uncleavable Azure-Spar, or Calaite {Tur-
quoii).

Genus XV. Adiaphane Spar.*
Pyramidal. Prismatic. Amorphous. Cleavage imperfect —
uncleavable. Hardness = 5.5 — 7.0. Sp. gr. = 2.9 — 3.4.

1. Pyramidal Adiaphane Spar, or Gehlenite. 2. Prismatic Adiaphane
Spar, or Saussurite. 3. Uncleavable Adiaphane Spar, or Ne-
phrite.

Order V. GEM.
Not metallic. No metallic adamantine lustre. Streak
white. Hardness = 5.5 — 10.0. Sp. gr. = 1.9 — 4 7.
Genus I. Andalusite.
Prismatic. Cleavage perfect in two somewhat oblique directions,
parallel to the axis. Hardness = 7.5. Sp. gr. = 3.0 — 3.2.
1. Prismatic Andalusite (^Feldspath apyre, HaUy).
Genus II. Corundum.
Tessular. Rhombohedral. Prismatic. Hardness = 8.0 — 9.0.
Sp. gr. = 3.5 — 4.3.

1. Dodecahedral Corundum, or Spinel Ruby. (Alumine MagnesUe
ou Spinelle, H.) 2. Octahedral Corundum, or Automalite {Spi-
nelle Zincifere, H.) 8. Rhombohedral Corundum, or Oriental
Ruby and Sapphire {Common Corundum, Adamantine- Spar, and
Emery'), 4. Prismatic Corundum, or Chrysoberyl {Cymophane,
H.)

Genus III. Diamond.
Tessular. Hardness •= 10.0. Sp. gr. = 3.4 — 3.6.
1. Octahedral Diamond.

Genus IV. Topaz.
Prismatic. Cleavage axotomous. Hardness = 8.0. Sp. gr. =
3.4 — 3.6.

1. Prismatic Topaz {Alumine FhiaU Siliceuae, ou Topazc, H. Phy-
salit, Picnit),

t Adiaphane-spar, so named on account of the low translucency of its
varieties.

Arrangement of Minerals.

Genus V. Emerald.

Ilemiprismatlc. Rhombohedral. Cleavage distinctly rhombohe-
dral, axotomous and peritomous ; or very perfectly prismatoidal. Hard-
ness = 7.5 — 8.0. Sp. gr. = 2.6 — 3.2.

1. Prismatic Emerald, or Euclase. 2. Rliomboliedral Emerald, or
Phenakitc. 4. Dirhombohedral Emerald {Precious Emerald or
Smooth Emerald J and Beryl or Striated Emerald),

Genus VI. Quartz.
Rhombobedral. Prismatic. Amorphous. Cleavage not axotomous.
Hardness = 5.5 — 7.5. Sp. gr. = 1.9 — • 2.7.

1. Prismatic Quartz, or lolite. 2. Rhombohedral Quartz, or Rock-
crystal {Common Quartz j S^c). 3. Uncleavable Quartz, or Opal.
4. Empyrodox Quartz {Obsidian, Pitchstone, Pumice, (Sfc).

Genus VH. Axinite.
Tetarto-prismatic. Cleavage imperfect. Colour not inclined to
yellow. Hardness = 6.5 — 7.0. Sp. gr. = 3.0 — 3.3.
1. Prismatic Axinite.

Genus VHI. Chrysolite.
Prismatic and Hemiprismatic. Cleavage very imperfect. Colour
green, brown ; both inclining to yellow ; yellow. Pure vitreous lustre.
Hardness = 6.5 — 7.0. Sp. gr. = 3.1 — 3.5.

1. Prismatic Chrysolite or Common Chrysolite. 2. Hemiprismatic
Chrysolite, or Chondrodite.

Genus IX. Boracite.
Tessular. Hardness = 7.0. Sp. gr. = 2.8 — 3.0.
1. Tetrahedral Boracite.

Genus X. Tourmaline.
Rhombohedral. Cleavage imperfect. Hardness = 7.0 — 7.5.
Sp. gr. = 3.0 — 3.2.

1. Rhombohedral Tourmaline.

Genus XI. Garnet.
Tessular. Pyramidal. Prismatic. Cleavage imperfect or pris-
matoidal. Hardness = 6.0 — 7.5. Sp. gr. = 3.1 — 4.3.

1. Pyramidal Garnet, or Vesuvian. 2. Tetrahedral Garnet, or Hel-
vine. 8. Dodecahedral Garnet {Precious Garnet, d:c.). 4. Hexa-
hedral Garnet, or Pyrope. 5. Prismatoidal Garnet, or Grenatlte.

Genus XII. Zircon.
Pyramidal. Hardness = 7.5, Sp. gr. =^4.5—4.7*
I. Pyramidal Zircon.

Arrangement of Minerals. 363

Ca IMEetalliferous IVIincralsa
Minerals in which metals, generally the chief constituents,
are in the native state, or combined with oxygen or sulphur.

Order I. ORE, or OXIDE.

Metallic, black ; not metallic. Streak not green, not blue.
Hardness = 2.0 — • 7.0. Sp. gr. = 3.4 — 8.0,

Genus I. Titanium-Ore.
TessuUir. Pyramidal. Hemiprismatic. Streak white — pale (not
yellowish) brown. Hardness = 5.0 — 6.5. Sp. gr. = 3.4 — 4.4.
1. Prismatic Titanium- Ore (Sphene). 2. Octahedral Titanium-Ore
{Pyrochlore). 8. Peritomous Titanium-Ore (Titane oaryde). 4.
Pyramidal Titanium- Ore {Anatase).

Genus H. Zinc-Obe, — Red Oxide of Zinc.
Prismatic. Streak orange-yellow. Hardness =4.0 — 4.5. Sp.
gr. = 5.4 — 5.5.

1. Prismatic Zinc-Ore.

Genus HI. Red Copper-Ore.
Tessular. Streak brownish-red. Hardness = 3.5 — 4.0. Sp. gr.
= 5.6 — 6.1.

1. Octahedral Red Copper-Ore.

Genus IV. Tin-Ore — Oxide of Tin.
Pyramidal. Streak not black. Hardness = 6.0 — 7.0. Sp. gr.
= 6.3 — 7.1.

1. Pyramidal Tin-Ore.

Genus V. Tantalum-Ore.
Prismatic and Hemiprismatic. Streak brownish-black. Hardness
= 6.0 — 6.5. Sp. gr. = 6.3 — 8.0.

1. Prismatic Tantalum-Ore {Tantalite from Kimito), 2. Hemipris-
matic Tantalum-Ore {Tantalite from Bodenmais. Kolombite,
Gust. Rose.)

Genus VI. Wolfram- Ore.
Hemiprismatic. Streak reddish-brown, dark. Hardness = 5.0 —
5.5. Sp.gr. =7.1— 7.4.

1. Prismatic Wolfram^ or Tungstate of Iron.

Genus VII. Uranium-Ore,
Amorphous. Streak black. Hardness = 5.5. Sp. gr. = 6.4 —
6.6.

1. Uncleavable Uranium-Ore (PecAcrar, W. Urane oxydule, U.)

364 Arrangement of Minerals,

Genus VIII. Cerium-Ore.
Amorphous. Streak white. Hardness = 5.5. Sp. gr. 4.9 —
5.0.

1. Uncleavable Cerium-Ore.

Genus IX. Chrome-Ore.
Tessular. Streak brown. Hardness = 5.5. Sp. gr. = 4.4 — 4.5
1. Octahedral Chrome-Ore.

Genus X. Iron-Ore.
Tessular. Rhombohedral. Streak red, dark brown, black. Hard-
ness = 5.0 — 6.5. Sp. gr. = 4.4 — 5.3.

1. Axotomous Iron-Ore {Titanitic Iron of Gastein), 2. Hexahedral
Iron-Ore (^Magnetic Iron-sand. Iserine). 3. Octahedral Iron-
Ore {^Magnetic Iron-ore, Black Iron-ore), 4. Dodecahedral
Iron-Ore {Franklinite), 5. Rhombohedral Iron-Ore {Iron-
glance, Bed Iron-ore),

Genus XI. Brown Iron- Ore.
Prismatic. Amorphous. Streak yellowish-brown. Hardness =
4.5 — 5.5. Sp. gr. = 3.4 — 4.3.

1. Prismatic Brown Iron-Ore. 2. Prismatoidal Brown Iron-Ore.
3. Uncleavable Brown Iron-Ore {Stilpnosiderite).

Genus XII. Melane-Ore.
Pyramidal. Prismatic. Hemiprismatic, and Tetarto- prismatic.
Colour black. Streak grey, brown, black. Hardness = 5.0 — 7.0.
Sp. gr. =3.4 — 5.9.

1. Anorthitic Melane-Ore {Allanite). 2. Hemiprismatic Melane-
Ore (GadoHnite), 3. Diprismatic Melane-Ore {Lievrite). 4.
f Prismatic Melane-Ore {Polymignite). 5. Dystomous Melane-

Ore {Mschynite). G. Pyramidal Melane-Ore {Ferguso7iite), 7.
Prismatoidal Melane-Ore {Cerine).

Genus XIII. Manganese-Ore.
Pyramidal. Prismatic. Amorphous. Streak dark (not yellow-
ish), brown, black. Does not affect the magnet. Hardness = 2.0 —
6.5. Sp. gr. =4.0 — 4.9.

1. Pyramidal or Black Manganese-Ore {Manganese oxyde hydrate,
H.Hausmannite). 2. Brachytypous Manganese-Ore {Braunite).
3. Uncleavable Manganese-Ore {Psilomelane). 4. Prismatoidal
Manganese-Ore {Grey Manganese- Ore). 6. Prismatic Man-
ganese-Ore {Pyrolusite),

Order II. METAL, or NATIVE METAL.

Metallic. Not lead-grey, not black. Hardness = 0.0 —
7.0. Sp.gr. =5.7 — 20.0.

Arrangement of Minerals, 365

Genus I. Arsenic.
Rhombohedral. Colour tin-white. Hardness = 3.5. Sp. gr. ==
5.7 — 5.8.

1. Rhombohedral Arsenic.

Genus II. Tellurium.
Tessular, rhombohedral. Colour tin-white. Not ductile. Hard-
ness = 2.0 — 3.5. Sp. gr. = 6.1 — 8.6.

1. Rhombohedral Tellurium {Native Tellurium). 2. Uncleavable
Tellurium {Argentiferous Tellurium). 3. Hexahedral Tellurium
{Plumbiferous Tellurium).

Genus III. Antimony.
Rhombohedral. Prismatic. Colour white, but not inclining to red.
Not ductile. Hardness =3.0—3.5. Sp. gr. = 6.5 — 10.0

1. Rbombohedral Antimony, or Native Antimony. 2. Prismatic
Antimony, or Antimonial Silver.

Genus IV. Bismuth.
Tessular. Cleavage perfect. Colour silver-white, inclining'to red.
Not ductile. Hardness = 2.0 -— 2.5. Sp. gr. = 9-6, 9.8.
1. .Octahedral Bismuth.

Genus V. Mercury.
Tessular ; liquid ; not cleavable. Colour white. Not malleable.
Hardness = 0.0—3.5. Sp. gr. = 10.5 — 15.0.

1. Dodecahedral Mercury, or Natural Amalgam. 2. Fluid Mercury.
Genus VI. Silver.
Tessular. Uncleavable. Colour silver-white. Ductile. Hard-
ness = 2.5 — 3.0. Sp. gr. = 1 0 — 11 .0.
1. Hexahedral Silver.

Genus VII. Gold.
Tessular. Colour gold-yellow. Hardness = 2.5 — 3.0. Sp. gr.
12.0 — 20.0.

1. Hexahedral Gold.

Genus VIII. Iridium.
Rhombohedral. Easily cleavable. Colour light steel-grey. Duc-
tile. Hardness = 7.0. Sp. gr. = 19.0 — 20.0.
1 . Rhombohedral Iridium.

Genus IX. Palladium.
Tessular. Colour steel-grey. Ductile. Harduess = 4.6 — 5.0,
Sp.gr. =11.5—12.5.

1. Hexahedral Palladium.
VOL. XXXI. NO. LXII.— -OCTOBER 1841. A a

366 Arrangement of Minerals.

Genu3 X. Platina.
Tessular. Uncleavable. Colour steel-grey. Ductile. Hard-
ness 4.0 — 4.5. Sp. gr. = 16.0 — 20.0.

Genus XI. Iron.

Tessular. Colour pale steel-grey. Hardness = 4.5. Sp. gr. = 7.4
— 7.8.

1. Octahedral Iron.

Genus XII, Coppeb.
Tessular. Colour copper-red. Hardness = 2.5 — 3.0. Sp. gr.
= 8.4 — 8.9.

1. Octahedral Copper.

Order HI. PYRITES.

Metallic. Not lead-grey, not black. Streak black. Hard-
ness = 3.0 ^ 6.5. Sp. gr. =z 4.1 — 7.7.

Genus I. Nickel-Pyrites, or Copper-Nickel. Arsenical
Nickel.
f Prismatic. Colour copper-red. Hardness = 5.0 — 5.5. Sp. gr.
= 7.5 — 7.7.

1. Prismatic Nickel-Pyrites.

Genus II. Arsenical Pyrites.
Prismatic. Colour not inclining to red. Hardness =: 5.0 — 6.0.
Sp.gr. =5.7 — 7.4.

1. Axotomous Arsenical Vyntes {^Fer Arsenical, "E..^ 2. Prismatic
Arsenical Pyrites {Fer Arsenical, H.) .

Genus III. Cobalt-Pyrites.

Tessular. Colour white, inclining to steel grey or red ; steel-grey.
Hardness = 5.0 — 5.5. Sp. gr. = 6.1 — 6.Q.

1. Octahedral, or Tin-White Cobalt-Pyrites {Cobalt Arsenical, H.)
2. Hexahcdrab or Silver-White Cobalt Pyrites {Cobalt gr is, H.)
S. Isometric Cobalt Pyrites {Kobaltkies), 4. Eutomous Cobalt-
Pyrites {Nickelspies-glaserz, Hausmann).

Genus IV. Iron-Pyrites.

Tessular. Rbombohedral. Prisniatic. Colour yellow, sometimes in-
clining to copper-red. Hardness = 3.5 — 6.5. Sp. gr. = 4.4 — 5.05.
1. Hexahedral Iron-Pyrites. 2. Prismaticlron- Pyrites. 3. Rhom-
bohedral or Magnetic-Iron-Pyritcs,

Arrangement of Minerals, 367

Genus V. Copper-Pvrites.
Tessular. Pyramidal. Colour brass-yellow, copper-red. Hard-
ness = 3.0 — 4.0. Sp. gr. 4.1— 5.1.

1, Octahedral Copper-Pyrites {Variegated or Purple Copper), 2.
Pyramidal Copper-Pyrites, {Yellow Copper-Pyrites).

Order IV. GLANCE.
Metallic. Colour grey, black, brown. Hardness = 1.0
— 4.0. Sp.gr. =4.2 — 8.5.

Genus I. Copper-Glance (Dystom Glance, Mohs),
Tessular. Rhombohedral. Prismatic, and Hemiprismatic Colour
steel-grey, sometimes inclining to yellow, blackish lead-grey, iron-
black. Cleavage imperfect, not axotomous. Brittle. Hardness
= 2.5 — 4.0. Sp. gr. = 4.3 — 5.8.

1. Hexahedral Copper-Glance {Stanniferous Copper-Glance, Bell-
Metal Ore. Zinnkies, W.) 2. Tetrahedral Copper-Glance
{Grey Copper. Fahlerz,W. Schwarzerz,W, Cuivre gris, H.)
3. Dodecahedral Copper-Glance {Tennantite). 4. Prismatoidal
Copper-Glance {Antimonial Copper- Glance). 5. Diprismatic
Copper-Glance {Bournonite. Schwarz Spiesglaserz, W. Plomb
Sulphure Antimonifere, H. Endellione. Triple Sulphuret).*

Genus H. Vitreous Copper.
Prismatic. Cleavage imperfect, not axotomous. Colour blackish
lead-grey. Streak more or less shining. Very sectile. Hardness
= 2.5 — 3.0. Sp. gr 5.5 — 6.3.

1. Prismatic Vitreous Copper. {Kvpferglas, W.) Jl. Isometric Vi-
treous Copper. {Silberkupferglanz, Hausmann).

Genus HI. Silver-Glance.
Tessular. Colour blackish lead-grey. Malleable. Hardness = 2.0
^ 2.5. Sp. gr. = 6.9 — 7.2.

1. Hexahedral Silver Glance. {Argent Sulphure , H.)
Genus IV. Lead-Glance.
Tessular. Colour pure lead-grey. Sectile. Hardness = 2.5. Sp.
gr. =6.8 — 7.6.

1. Hexahedral Lead-Glance. {Plomb Sulphure, H.) 2. Octahedral
Lead-Glance. {Steinmannite, Zippe.)

Genus V. Eutomous Glance.j
Pyramidal. Rhombohedral. Prismatic. Cleavage monotomous, very

* Zinkenite and Plagionite are placed in this genus by Mohs.

f Euionwus (from w, easily f and rt^vw. to ckave), cleavage easily effected.

3G8 Arrangement of Minerals,

perfect. Colour lead-grey, steeUgrey, pinchbeck-brown. In thin
plates flexible ; elastic. Hardness = 1 .0 — 2.5. Sp. gr. = 4.2 — 8.5.
1. Elastic EiUomous Glance. {Molyhddns'ilher , W.) 2. Pyramidal
Eutomous Glance. {^Tellurc natif Auro-plomhifere, H.) 3. Rhom-
bohcdral Eutomous Glance. {Tetradymite, Haid. Markasit-
glanz, Br.) 4. Dirhombohedral Eutomous Glance (Molybdena-
glance. Molybdene Sulphure, H.) 6. Prismatic Eutomous
Glance. {Sternbergite, Haid.)

Genus VI. Bismuth-Glance.
Prismatic. Colour lead-grey. Hardness = 2.0 — 2.5. Sp. gr.
z= 6.1 — 6.8. If the colour is blackish lead-grey, the Sp. gr. is = 6.7
and more ; if pure lead -grey, the Sp. gr. = 6.4, and less.

1. Prismatic Bismuth-Glance. {Bismuth Sulphure, H.) 2. Prisma-
toidal Bismuth-Glance. {Nadelerz, W. .Bismuth Sulphure
Flombo-cuprifere, H.)

Genus VII. Antimony-Glance.
Prismatic. Colour steel- grey, pure lead-grey. Cleavage perfect.
Hardness = 1.5 — 2.5. Sp. gr. = 4.2 — 5.8. If the sp. gr. 5.3,
the hardness = 2.0, and easily broken when in thin plates. If sp. gr.
above 5.3, colour is steel -grey, not inclining to lead-grey.

1. Prismatic Antimony-Glance. {Tellure natif awo-argentifere, H.)
2. Prismatoidal Antimony-Glance, or Grey Antimony. (Com-
mon Ore of Antimony. Antimoine Sulphure, H.) 3. Axoto-
mous Antimony-Glance, or Jamesonite {StahlantimonglanZj Br.)
4. Peritomous Antimony-Glance {Sulphuret of Silver and Anti-
mony, Philhps).

Genus VIII. Melane-Glance.
Rhombohedral. Prismatic. Colour iron-black. Streak unchanged.
Hardness =: 2.0 — 2.5. Sp. gr. = 5.9 — 6.4.

1. Rhombohedral Melane-Glance. {Sprodglaserz, W. Polybasite,
G. Rose.) 2. Prismatic Melane-Glance. {Sprodglaserz, VY.
Argent antimonie sulphure noir, H.)

Order V. BLENDE.
Metallic, black ; not metallic. Streak green, red, orange,
brown — white. Hardness = 1.0 — 5.0. Sp. gr. = 2.8 — - 8.2.
Genus I. Manganese-Blende.
Tessular. Streak green. Hardness = 3.5 — 4.0. Sp. gr. = 3.9

— 4.05.

1. Hexahedral Manganese-blende {Manganese sulphur^).
Genus II. Bismuth-Blende, or Diamond Blende.
Tessular, Streak white. Hardness = 4.5 — 5.0. Sp. gr, = 5.8

— 6.0.

Arrangement of Minerals. 369

1. Dodecahedral Bismuth-Blende ( PTumM^AWoK/e of BreWiaupt,
Arsenikwismuthy in part, of Werner).

Genus III. Cadmium Blende.
Rhombohedral. Streak orange-yellow. Hardness =3.5. Sp. gr. 2.8.
1. Rhombohedral Cadmium Blende or Grecnockitc, Jam. {^Sulphurct
of Cadmium, Con.)

Genus IV. Zinc-Blende, or Garnet-Blende.
Tessular. Streak white — reddish-brown. Hardness = 3.5 — 4.0.
Sp.gr. =4.0 — 4.2.

1. Dodecahedral Garnet-Blende {^Zinc sulphure, H.)

Genus V. Antimony-Blende — Purple Blende.
Hemiprismatic. Streak cherry-red. Hardness = 1.0 — 1.5. Sp.
gr. = 4.5 — 4.6.

1. Prismatic Antimony-Blende {Red Antimony. Antimoine ojcyd^
sulphure, H.).

Genus VI. Ruby-Blende.
Rhombohedral. Hemiprismatic. Streak red. Hardness = 2.0
^ 2.5. Sp. gr. = 5.2 — 8.2.

1. Rhombohedral Rubj-Blende {Ruby Silver. Argent antimonie
sulphure, H. Rothgiltigerz, W.) 2. Hemiprismatic Ruby-Blende
{Rothgiltigerz, W. Myargyrite, R.) 3. Peritomous Ruby-
Blende {Cinnabar. Mercure sulphure, H. Zinnober, W.).

Order VI. SULPHUR.
Not metallic. Colour red, yellow, brown. Streak red,
yellow — white. Hardness = 1.5 — 2.5. Sp. gr. = 1.9 — 3.6;

Genus I. Orpiment.
Prismatoidal. Hemiprismatic. Streak lemon-yellow, orange -yel-
low, aurora-red. Hardness = 1.5 — 2.0. Sp. gr. = 3.4 — 3.6.

1. Prismatoidal Orpiment {Yellow Orpiment. Yellow sulphuret of
Arsenic. Arsenic sulphure jaunc. Gelbes Rauschgelb). 2. He-
miprismatic Orpiment {Red Orpiment or Realgar. Red sulphuret
of arsenic. Arsenic sulphure rouge. Rothes Rauschgelb).

Genus II. Sulphur.

Prismatic. Streak white — sulphur-yellow. Hardness =1.5 —
2.5. Sp. gr= 1.9 — 2.1.

1. Prismatic Sulphur {Common Sulphur. Soufrc, H. Natiirlichcr
Schwqfel, W.).

370 Arrangement of Minerals.

CLASS III.

Characters of the Class. — Specific gravity less than 1.8. If
liquid, the smell is bituminous. If solid, is tasteless.

Order I. RESIN.

Fluid and solid. Hardness = 0.0 — 2.5. Sp. gr. = 0.8 ~-
1.6. If sp. gr. = 1.2 and more, the streak is white or grey.

Genus I. Mellite, or Honeystone.

Pyramidal. Streak white. Hardness = 2.0 — 2.5. Sp. gr. =
1.4 — 1.6.

1. Pyramidal Mellite. {Mellate of alumina).

Genus II. Mineral Resin.

Amorphous. Hardness = 0.0 — 2.5. Sp. gr. = 0.8 — 1.6.
If the sp. gr. = 1.4 and more, the streak is white.

1. Yellow Mineral Resin, {Amber). 2. Brown Mineral Resin
{Idrialite of Schr otter). 8. Black Mineral Resin {Naphtha, Pe-
troleanij Asphaltum or Mineral Pitchy S^c.)

Order II. COAL.

Solid. Streak brown, black. Hardness — 1.0 — 2.5. Sp.
gr. =1.2 — 1.6.

If the sp. gr. =1.4 and more, the streak is black, and with-
out considerable lustre.

Genus I. Mineral Coal.

Form irregular. Hardness = 1.0 — 2.5. Sp. gr. = 1.2 — 1.6.

1. Bituminous Mineral Coal {Brown Coal and Black Coal). 2. Non-
bituminous Mineral {Anthracite, or Glance-Coal).

( 371 )

On Parasites, Animal and Vegetable, occurring in Living Be*
ings ; and especially of a Cryptogamous Plant grorving in the
Air-Ceils of an Eider-Duckf and destroying it.

The subject of parasites, animal and vegetable, occurring
in living beings, including man himself, has lately attracted
much attention on the continent of Europe, and is so highly
curious and important, that we must, in a few words, bring it
under the notice of our readers. The vast extent of the sub-
ject may be learned by a glance at M. Eschricht's memoir, on
a previous page, where the author states that the Fauna Pa-
rasitica alone surpasses in amount all the other fauna put to-
gether ; and its interest and deep importance may be esti-
mated by endeavouring to trace the origin and effects of these
parasites : — as of the Fllaria in the aqueous and other humours
of the eye of horses, and of man ; — of the Strongylus injtexi,
nestling in the lungs, and there producing pulmonary con-
sumption, in the porpoise ; — of th^ Distoma hepatlcum, so de-
structive in the rot ; and the Cvenurus cerebralis in the sturdy
or gid of sheep. With regard to vegetable parasites, science
has been much indebted to the laborious investigations of M.
Audouin, who has presented two memoirs to the French Aca-
demy of Sciences, concerning the Miiscardine,-^a. scourge
which attacks the silk- worm, and creates the most serious
alarm among those interested in this trade. Attention was
first directed to this point by the discovery, in 1835, of M*
Bassi of Lodi, and of his fellow-countryman M. Balsamo, a
botanist of Milan, of the vegetable nature of that whitish mat-
ter which covers the dead body of Bomhyx mori at the termi-
nation of the malady above referred to, and which has long
been known. M. Bassi, being desirous to obtain the opinion of
M. Audouin on the matter, sent him a chrysalis of a silk-worm
which had been destroyed by the muscardine. During the
years 1836 and 1837, the French physiologist made numerous
researches into the history of this plague, and proceeded in de-
veloping, in an anatomical, physiological, and pathological
point of view, all the phenomena which occur in the invasion,
progress, and termination of the disease. He also followed

372 On Parasites, Animal and Vegetable^

throughout its most minute details, the metamorphoses of the
greasy tissue of the insect into the radicle or thallus of the
new cryptogamous plant, the Botrytis bassiana^ which assured-
ly is the alone cause of the malady. The memoirs of M. Au-
douin have been honourably mentioned in a report of the Aca-
demy, drawn by M. Dutrochet, and his conclusions approved
of. M. Audouin, a few months ago, received a letter from his
friend M. Eudes Deslonchamps, Professor of Zoology at Caen,
which he read to the French Academy, and in which an ac-
count is given of the growth of a cryptogamous plant in the
air-cells of a duck, which rapidly killed it. The particulars of
this interesting case we shall now supply.

In the month of December 1839, Dr Blot, whose residence
is not far from the sea, was presented with an eider-duck which
had recently been captured in a trap ; and whose plumage shewed
it to be either a female or a young male. It was very gentle, and
was put into the poultry-yard, where it was soon at home with
its new companions. It was almost always in the water ; and
when its pond was frozen over, the ice was broken for its ac-
commodation. In the spring it moulted, and then proved to
be a young male.

Three weeks or a month before its death it appeared less
active than usual ; it ate less, and resorted but seldom to teh
pond. Presently it was observed frequently to stretch its
neck and extend its wings as if it had difficulty in breathing,
and speedily this difficulty became urgent, the poor creature
supporting its wings on the ground, and making great efforts
to force the air into its chest. When it was lifted up, the
strong muscular exertions it made for breath were distinctly
felt. At the same time it was perceived that, from being very
fat, it was gradually becoming exceedingly lean. On the 2d
of July 1840, Dr Blot missed the eider-duck from the poultry-
yard, and on going in search found it in its nest, whither it
retired every night, and where it was still warm. The same
day it was sent to M. Deslonchamps, who, on the moment, un-
dertook its dissection. His purpose was to examine the heart
and great vessels ; and he took every precaution that no part
should be injured. The air-cells were immediately opened
freely, and his surprise was great on finding them lined with

occurring in Living Beings, 373

numerous spots of mould or mildew. The majority of these
spots were round, and somewhat elevated, especially at the
centre. They were of different sizes ; from a line to the tenth
of a line. The largest had an irregular circumference, which
was evidently the result of the confluence of several neigh-
bouring spots, whose projecting centres shewed the different
spots whence they had originally sprung. Although most nu-
merous on the parietes of the chest, the mouldy spots were
found throughout the whole extent of the air-cells, including
the loins ; also upon the intestines, the bones of the pelvis, and
in the air-vessels of the anterior extremities. None were to
be found upon the pericardium, nor within the large blood-
vessels ; nor were there any in the trachea, nor in the larynx,
but they abounded in those bronchial tubes which traversed
the lungs to communicate with the air-cells. The^air-tubes of
the left side were all clothed with old mouldiness, of mature
growth, for the sporules were completely developed, of a deep
dirty green colour, and united in capitula, which were support-
ed on straight filaments. It appeared that none of these ra-
mifications of the bronchiae, which terminated in the substance
of the lungs, were covered with the mould ; and the lungs,
though somewhat gorged with blood, were quite permeable
to air. floated when plunged into water, and contained neither
tubercles nor ulcerations. From the advanced state of the
growth of the mould in the left bronchiae, it was inferred that
the disease commenced in these parts, and thence gradually
extended to the right bronchiae, in which the spots appeared
quite recent, and almost colourless.

The membrane which corresponded to the serous one of the
thorax and abdomen, and of their contained organs, and which
is also a prolongation of the mucous membrane of the trachea
and bronchiae, was found, under the large and old spots of
mould, to be thick, red, and conspicuously injected with blood.
A large piece of this sero-mucous membrane was detached by
dissection, and placed, with its face external, upon a round
body, that the mould might more easily be examined, and it
was then found that the spots could very readily be entirely
separated from it. Interposed, however, between the sero-
mucous membrane and the minute Cryptogamia, there was a

374 On Parasites, Animal and VegetdbUy

distinct layer, yellowish, elastic, very thin at the circumfe-
rence, and thicker towards the centre, especially of the older
and larger spots, which formed a kind of soil for the minute
plants. The adherence of this yellow layer to the membrane,
although close, appeared to be neither cellular nor vascular,
but to result from the juxtaposition of two minutely granular
substances having a reciprocal configuration, a mode of ad-
hesion this which closely corresponds with that of the epi-
dermis to the interior membrane of the gizzard of birds, and
which may be broken up in the same way. These layers did
not appear to have any organization. When put into boiling
water, and into nitric acid, they were not dissolved ; they ap-
peared of the nature of albumen, true false membranes, the
result of the irritation of the vascular and living membrane to
which they adhered, and which secreted them. Under the
larger layers of mould, the sero-mucous membrane had nearly
a uniform redness and thickness. Under the smaller was
seen, towards the centre, a vascular net-work highly deve-
loped, and surrounded with a zone in w^hich the vessels could
scarcely be perceived ; beyond this zone the vascular ramifi-
cations became visible, and less crowded than towards the
centre. The albuminous layer did not extend beyond the ex-
ternal circumference of the zone.

This mould, examined by means of the convex lens and
microscope, appears to consist of transparent inarticulated
filaments, slightly, or not at all, ramified, and forming an in-
extricable felt closer and finer near the centre of the albumi-
nous layer, where they are scarcely one-eightieth of a line in
diameter, whilst near the external surface of the spot they are
nearly double the size. There everywhere exists throughout
this felted mass a great number of small globular or ovoid
vesicles, whose diameter is the same as that of the filaments,
which are undoubtedly the sporules ; they are white on those
parts of the adventitious growth which are white, and of a
greenish ash-colour in those places where this tint prevails. In
the more crowded parts of the felt the sporules fill the inter-
stices, while in the less crowded they are ranged in succession
one upon another, sometimes on one side only, at others on
the opposite sides of each filament. On a few of the older

occurring in Living Beings, 375

spots of mildew a certain number of the filaments, which were
erect, were isolated from the felt, and terminated by a round-
ish agglomeration of greenish sporules. In subjecting these
straight filaments to a high power of the microscope, it was
noticed that some of them supported sporules with a capitu-
lum, whilst others terminated in a flat margined disk, which
appeared to be the mode in which those filaments terminated
which had lost their sporules. Sometimes these filaments ap-
proximated each other, and formed irregular meshes at the
surface of the spots of mildew, sometimes they looked like
cylindrical masses. After the most careful examination it
could never be discovered that any thing like rooty fibres pene-
trated into the albuminous layers.

Many questions here naturally occur concerning the rela-
tions which must subsist between the mould and the false
membrane which supports it. Is it developed after the mem-
brane has been secreted, and find in it a substance of organic
origin, though not living, which is analogous to that upon
which it is so often developed in the open air I or does the
mould precede the formation of the false membrane, which is
only the result of the irritation produced at the surface of the
normal membrane, and owes its life to the roots of the mil-
dew l or, finally, are the mould and false membrane propa-
gated simultaneously I This last method appears the most
probable, 1*^, Because no spot of false membrane was ever
noticed which was not also covered with mould ; and 2d, Be-
cause no mould was ever seen which was not separated from
the natural surface by a false membrane, whose consistence al-
ways corresponded with the extent and age of the Cryptogamia.
Hence it would appear that whenever a sporule of mould, or
the propagating cause of this singular vegetation whatever it
may be, was attached to the surface of the living membrane,
the spot, being excited, immediately became the site of an
albuminous deposit upon which the mould began to grow, ex-
tending its fibriles towards an indefinite circumference, and
inducing the formation of a false membrane from the normal
one, whose extension corresponded with that of the plant ; the
addition of new albuminous layers from beneath explains the
increased thickness of the central parts of the false membrane.

376 Successful Ascent of the Jungfrau.

It also appears clear, that the vegetable matter has no imme-
diate connection with the living animal tissue ; there is no en-
grafting, soldering, prolongation, or implantation of the one
into the other.

In the Muscardine already noticed, or rather the Crjptoga-
mia, which constitute that malady, M. Audouin has demon-
strated, that the vegetable fibres develope themselves by their
radicles, or rather, more accurately, their thallus, which grows
at the expense of the greasy tissue of the silk-worm, destroy-
ing its globules, and ere long entirely occupying its place, so
producing the sudden death of the animal, and the hardening
of its body ; whilst, in the singular case now before us, the
interposition of an animal substance which is 'not living, ap-
pears to be necessary ere the vegetable matter springs up and
flourishes. There seem lesser differences in these interesting
cases of the method in which vegetable parasites prove de-
structive to animal life. Corresponding differences have long
been noted in the injury inflicted by animal parasites ; and these
hints concerning this wide and most important subject, abun-
dantly demonstrate what a wide field lies open for the inves-
tigation of the student of nature.

Notice of Professor Forbes and Agassiz' successful Ascent of the

Jungfrau.

Our distinguished and enterprising friend and colleague
Professor Forbes, along with Agassiz and others, have made
a successful ascent on the great Swiss mountain the Jungfrau,
whose summit is 13,720 feet above the level of the sea. Pro-
fessor Forbes, being desirous to traverse the vast ice^^Jelds which
separate Grindelwald and the Vallais, requested Agassiz, with
whom he had been bivouacking for some time amongst the
Swiss glaciers, to accompany him across the Ober-Aar glacier
(which unites by a Col of 11,000 feet with that of Viesch), and
those of Veiscli and Aletsch. To this Agassiz agreed, and pro-
posed to add an attempt to ascend the Jungfrau, a proposal
which wad readily assented to.

Successful Ascent of the Jungfrau, 377

Of six travellers and seven guides who formed the party,
four of each reached the top, viz., of the former MM. Forbes,
Agassiz, Desor, and Duehatelies ; of the latter," Jacob Leut-
vold (who ascended the Finster Aarhorn), Johann Jaunon,
Melchior, Bauholzer, and Andreas Aplaualp. They left the
Grimsel on the morning of the 27th August last (1841), as-
cended the whole length of the Ober-Aar Glacier, and de-
scended the greater part of that of Viesch. Crossing a Col to
the right, they slept at the Chalets of Aletsch, near the lake of
that name figured in Agassiz's Glacier Views. This was twelve
hours' hard walking, the descent of the glaciers being difficult
and fatiguing. Next day the party started at six a. m., having
been unable sooner to procure a ladder to cross the crevices,
and traversed the upper part of the glacier of Aletsch in its
whole extent for four and a half hours, until the ascent of the
Jungfrau began. The party crossed with precaution extensive
and steep fields of fresh snow, concealing crevices till they came
to one, which opened vertically, and behind which an excessive-
ly steep wall of hardened snow rose. The crevices being crossed
with the ladder, they ascended the snow without much danger,
owing to its consistency. After some similar walking, they
gained the Col, which separates the Aletsch glacier from the
Roth thai (on the side of Lauterbrunnen, by which the ascent
has usually been attempted). Thus the party, although now
at a height of between 12,000 and 13,000 feet, had by far the
hardest and most perilous part of the ascent to accomplish.
The whole upper part of the mountain presented a steep
inclined surface of what seemed snow, but which soon ap-
peared to be hard ice. This slope was not less than 800 or
900 feet in perpendicular height, and its surface (which Pro-
fessor Forbes measured carefully several times with a clino-
meter) in many places rose at 45°, and in few much less.
We know well, as all alpine travellers do, what an inclined
surface of 45° is to walk up. Of course, every step our tra-
vellers took was cut with the hatchet, and the slope termi-
nated below on both sides in precipices some thousand feet
high. After very severe exertion, they reached the top of this
great mountain at four p. m. The summit was so small, that
but one person could stand on it at once, and that not until the
snow had been flattened. The party returned, as it came up

378 On Sepulchral Bemains of Ancient Nations

step by step, and backwards, and arrived at the Chalets of
Aletsch, and by beautiful moonlight, at half-past 11 at night.
We may add, that the ascent of the Jungfrau was performed
in the year 1812 by two guides, who were accompanied by
Messrs Meyer, not by the Meyers themselves. In 1829, two of
several Grindelwald peasants reached the top, after having been
three days out. These are the only ascents up to this time.

On Sepulchral Bemains of Ancient Nations dispersed through
the North of Europe.

The following observations, which have just appeared in Dr
Pritchard's new work, were occasioned by the publication of
a drawing, taken from the cast of a skull in the collection of
the Royal College of Surgeons of London. The cast was pre-
sented to the College by Professor Eschricht of Copenhagen,
together with a learned and interesting memoir on the sepul-
chral remains of ancient races in Denmark, and the neighbour-
ing countries, published in the " Danske Folkeblad." The
cast is that of a cranium discovered in a burrow in the isle of
Moen, which appears from Professor Eschricht's account to
be a good specimen of a great number of skulls found in simi-
lar situations. The memoir which accompanied it gives much
curious information on the subject of the sepulchral remains
dispersed over the north of Europe.

''■ The comparison of the remains/' says Dr Pritchard, ^' with the nu-
merous relicts of a like description spread through the British Isles^, and
with the contents of innumerable tumuli existing in the north of Russia,
and particularly along the banks of the great rivers of Siberia, may here-
after throw an important light on the ancient history and ethnography of
all these regions. Professor Eschricht's memoir communicates some in-
teresting facts, which may suggest the topics of future inquir3^

"Over many parts of Denmark are scattered earthen mounds, which
are termed in the country ' Jettehoie,' or Giant's tombs. They are re-
garded as relicts of the olden time. Their vast number proves, says the
author, that they were not raised during one age, and history records that
the custom of erecting mounds over the dead prevailed in the north of
Europe for many centuries previous to the introduction of the Christian
religion. That these monuments belonged to different ages is further

dispersed through the North of Europe, 379

evinced by the difference of their structure, and of the relicts of ancient
art which have been discovered in them. For a long period of time it
seems to have been customary to deposit in these graves burnt bodies,
or merely collections of burnt bones in earthen vessels : but this was not
the oldest custom, nor was it universally prevalent; we sometimes find
bones in earthen vessels in the same graves with entire skeletons. With
the dead it was usual to bury various articles, such as his weapons, work-
ing tools, ornaments, and some religious tokens, probably amulets, fetlsses,
or talismans. In the later pagan times such things were of bronze, some-
times of gold, seldom of silver or iron ; in the more ancient times, the
ornaments were generally of amber, and the weapons and implements of
stone or bone, seldom, perhaps never, of metal. This circumstance fur-
nishes the ground for distinguishing the sepulchral remains of the north-
ern land as belonging to different chronological eras.

'* Now, as we are obliged to admit that iron was known to the nations
of Gothic or German race who inhabited Sweden, Denmark, and Norway,
from an early age, and who were the ancestors of the present Swedes and
Danes, we mugt refer the existence of the earliest class of these remains to
a period ending two thousand years ago, and reaching back not only be-
yond authentic historical memorials, but even beyond the earliest tradi-
tions. It is evident that they belonged to a people older than the Danes.
Who were this people ? The early traditions speak of giants, elfs, the
hereditary enemies of the Goths ; and it is highly probable that under
these names were designated that ancient race whose indefatigable indus-
try supplied the want of metal. As historj^ gives little information, a re-
search into the contents of the sepulchral mounds themselves seems to
be the only resource for elucidating'this question.

" Though many of these graves have been opened, and in some not
fewer than twenty skeletons have been discovered, there is yet not one
entire skeleton in any museum in Denmark.

" In the summer of 1836, M. Hageof Stege, in the Isle of Moen, or-
dered two mounds to be opened, which were situated close together near
Byen. The style and contents of these burrows prove that they belonged
to the oldest period of similar remains. An opening in the southern end
of each mound affords an entrance to a narrow passage, which leads into
a chamber in the centre of the mound ; the passages, as well as the
chamber, are formed by means of rough stones of a flat shape. The se-
pulchral chambers are fourteen or sixteen ells long, between four and five
broad, and two ells and a half high."

" From this account, it would appear that these oldest • Jettehoie,* or
* Gravhoie,' in the Danish islands, bear a close resemblance to our long
sepulchral burrows in Britain. Some of them contain, as it seems, ten or
even twenty human skeletons. Three skulls were procured by Professor
Eschricht from one of the tumuli above mentioned. They are described
and figured in the memoir, and the cast sent to the museum was taken
from one of them. Professor Eschricht afterwards compared these skulls.

380 On the Sepulchral Remains of Ancient Nations

and the relics of art found in the same burrows, with several extensive
collections of similar remains in the Danish museums, particularly with
the contents of sepulchral mounds near Hellested in Sjaelland. The re-
sult seems to be, that the shape of the skulls is very similar in all the
tombs which belong to the first age, or that of stone implements. In
these tumuli, there are numerous ornaments of amber, weapons of stone
and of bone, but no relics that indicate the knowledge of metals among
the people who deposited them. These tumuli are very numerous, and
extensively spread, shewing that the tribe to which they belonged were
for ages the sole inhabitants of the northern countries. In a series of
burrows different from those described, ornaments, such as rings of gold,
sometimes of copper or of bronze, make their appearance ; and these be-
long evidently to a much later period of paganism. A third age succeeds,
which is that of iron instruments and weapons. The people, whose relics
are found in these last, are supposed to have been th(j ancestors of the
Danes, namely of the Jutic, Gothic, or Germano-Scandinavian race.

" We still want more precise information as to the osteological character
of the skeletons found in these different series of tumuli, and the memoir
contains no account of those which belong to the two latest periods. On
the remains found in tumuli of the earliest class some interesting remarks
are to be found in Professor Eschricht's memoir; but these are scarcely
sufficient to satisfy all doubts as to the important ethnological question,
to what people they belonged } The author supposes they were ^ a
Caucasian race.' He draws this inference from the spherical form of the
head and its considerable development, and from the shape of the nasal
bones, which, as he says, are arched, indicating a prominent or aquiline
nose. On the other hand, he mentions characters which belong to the
Finnish nations rather than to Indo-Europeans. He says that the orbits
of the eyes were small and deeply set under the eyebrows, so that the
eye must have been deeply set, with strong prominent eyebrows : there
is a considerable depression of the nasal bones between the orbits. These
are characteristics of the Finnish race. A still stronger feature of resem-
blance to some of the Lappish, Finnish, and many kindred races, is the
lateral projection of the zygoma, giving to the skull much of that pyra-
midal form, which is so remarkable a feature of the Turanian nations.
This will be perceived by the reader on inspecting the annexed engrav-
ing,* which was taken from the cast, though it is not perceptible in the
profile or in the front view, neither of them affording aspects of the skull
which are satisfactory, given in the ^ Danske Folkeblad.' It would be
rash to conclude from these characters that the skull in question belonged
to a Finnish people, though that race is known, as we have seen, to have
approached in ancient times the borders of Denmark. We might rather
look upon the Cimbric or Celtic inhabitants of Northern Europe, as does

Referring to the plate in Dr Pritchard's volume.

dispersed through the North of Europe, 381

Professor Eschricht, as the erectors and occupants of those ancient tombs-
Some remains found in Britain give reason to suspect that the Celtic in-
habitants of this country had, in early times, something of the Mongolian
or Turanian form of the head. However this may have been, we recog-
nise in both countries remains belonging to two successive periods : I
mean those of the stone and of the copper age, in the phraseology adopted
by Professor Eschricht.*

The comparison of the sepulchral remains found in Denmark, and spread
in great abundance through some parts of Holland, and over Sweden and
Norway, with those of our own country, would open a field of most in-
teresting research. It is evident, from the preceding observations, that
the " Jettehoie," or oldest sepulchral mounds of Denmark, are very simi-
lar in construction, and contain relics of a similar kind, with the greater
part of our long barrows, and perhaps with most of the old sepulchral
mounds spread through the south of England, and in various parts of
Wales and Ireland. In most of the mounds examined by the late Sir
R. C. Hoare, the remains of ancient art were similar to those above de-
scribed : they belonged to a people in a corresponding state of society,
probably to the same people. Implements and weapons of stone belong
to each ; only amber is not found, as far as I know, in British barrows,
that material having been abundant only near the Baltic ; ornaments of
bone seem to have held the place of amber. Only in a few barrows, ac-
cording to Sir R. C. Hoare, are ornaments of gold found, weapons of
brass and golden rings have been more frequently seen in Ireland. These
relics of copper or brazen ornaments are evidently of a later date than
that long series of ages which raised the great majority of the numerous
mounds and barrows which are spread both in the British isles and in the
northern regions of Europe, but all the barrows where implements of iron
are still entirely awanting, probably belonged to a period anterior to the
entrance of the German nations. It is, on the whole, probable that they
were raised by the Celtic tribes, of which the Cimbri were the last remains
on the northern continent. For the Celts were long ignorant of the use of
iron, if we may draw an inference from the British barrows. It is true
that the Britons used iron in Caesar's time for some purposes, namely, iron
rings for money, and probably the scythes of chariots were of iron, for
what else could be used, unless it were brass. But the use of iron may
have been confined to the Belgse in South Britain, who introduced it from
Gaul. It must have been unknown during many ages to the Britons, as
we have inferred from the contents of the barrows, which were the old
sepulchres.

* The three heads described are very small, though they appear to have be-
longed to adults : the circumference measures only about sixteen inches. Heads
BO small, as the author observes, are seldom seen among the modem Danes. This,
however, may be an individual, rather than a national, character.

VOL. XXXI. NO. LXII.— .OCTOBER 184:1. B b

3B2 Mr John Sang oti a Convenient Arrangement

It is much to be regretted that there is no collection of the sepulchral
remains of our ancestors. Ample resources yet exist for enriching such a
collection were it but Commenced ; but these resources are diminishing
every day. Great numbers of skeletons have been found, and the bones
scattered, within my knowledge, during the last few years. In Ireland
the Royal Academy have set a laudable example in the care directed to
such pursuits, and much may be expected from the enlightened zeal and
activity of Dr Wilde and other members. How much might the Society
of Antiquaries have effected if their attention had been directed to these
researches ?^'

On a Convenient Arrangement in Orthographic Projection.
By Mr John Sang, Land- Surveyor, Kirkcaldy, M.S. A.
With a pUite.t Communicated by the Society of Arts for
Scotland.

The facility of the isometrical method of projection is de-
rived from the circumstances that the three axes in the di-
rections of the height, length, and breadth of objects, are re-
presented by lines having an integral proportion to one another,
and that the scale is applied to these, and not, as in an ordinary
corner projection, to those lines which merely happen to be
parallel to the plane of the drawing. In the isometrical pro-
jection, the proportion of the representations of the axis to one
another, is that of equality, so that the line of sight is invari-
able, and the draughtsman has not the power of giving more
or less space to the top, end, or front of the object to suit the
degree of development he may wish in those parts. By alter-
ing the position of the perspective plane, the representations
of the three axes may be made to have various proportions to
one another different from equality ; if these proportions be
all different from equality, and from one another in a projec-
tion, that projection itself will give three directions of view,
according as the greatest line is made to represent the length,
height, or breadth. If the proportion between the representa-

* Eesearches into the Physical History of Mankind, by Dr Pricliard ; vol.
iii. part i. pp. xvii to xxii.. As a copy of Dr Eschricht's memoir has just
reached us from the author, we may again recur to this interesting subject.
— Edit.

t The paper of which this is an abstract was read before the Society of
Arts for Scotland, 22d March 1841,

in Orthographic Projection.

383

tions of two of the axes remains that of equality, while that
with the third one is different, that single projection will, in
like manner, give two lines of sight. In order, however, to
obtain the facility of execution which belongs to the isometri-
cal method, these proportions must be integral, and not only
so, but capable of being expressed by means of the plotting
scales commonly used by draughtsmen. Taking these scales
at 10, 25, 30, 40, 50, and 60 to the inch, there are possible
two arrangements of the former sort, giving three lines of
sight each, data for which are subjoined ; there may be a great
variety of the latter sort giving two lines of view each, data
for three of the best of which are also subjoined, giving to the
draughtsman altogether (including the isometrical) 13 different
directions of view.

The three axes are represented by o a, o b^ o c.

(1.) For the scales 40, 50, and 60 to the inch. In this ar-
rangement all the lines parallel to o a, and all oblique lines are
to be laid down from scale 40 ; those parallel to o 6 from scale
50, and those parallel to o c by scale 60.

Angle aoh=: 99.23
6 0 c = 156.60
coa = 103.47

And 0 a being 100,

06 = 137.9
6c = 143.7
<ra=i 132.7

384 Mr John Sang on a Convenient Arrangement

Diameter of the circle being 100,

Minor diameter of ellipse in plane, a o 6 = 77.32

loc= 2055

coa = 63.42

Major diameter of ellipse in any of these, =: 102.09

(2.) For scales 25, 30, 40 ; o « and all oblique lines being
on scale 25 ; <? ^ on scale 30 ; oc on scale 40.

Angle aob =: 98.24
6oc = 105.27
coa = 156.9
oa being 100, ab =z 139.2
&c= 142.7
ca =. 131.3
Minor diameter of ellipse in aoh z=. 80.74

6oc= 20.62

coa:=i 59.00

Major diameter, . , . = 102.10

(3.) For scales 10, 20 ; in this o a, a b, and all oblique lines
are to be measured by scale 10 ; o c by scale 20.

Angleao&= 97.10
hoc •=. coa ^=z 131.25
ah- 150.0
6 c = 0 a = 138.3
Minor diameter of ellipse in aob •=. 93.54

in 6oc or coa = 35.36

Major diameter, . . = 106.07

(4.) For the scales 10, 30 ; in this a a, oh, and all oblique
lines are to be measured by scale 10 ; o c by scale 80.

Angle a 0 & = 93 11
6oc = co« = 138.25
a 6 = 145.3
6c = ca = 125.3
Minor diameter of ellipse in a o & = 97.18

in &0C or coa == 23.57

Major diameter, . . == 102.74

(5.) For the scales 20, 30 ; in this oa, oh, and all oblique
lines, are to be measured by scale 20 ; o c by scale 30.

Angle aoh z=z 102.60
6oc = coa = 128.35
abz=. 156.3
hcz=^caz=i 150.9

in Orthographic Projection. 385

0

Minor diameter of ellipse in aob z= 88.19

in 6oc or coa= 47.14

Major diameter, . . . =: 110.55

The minor diameter of an ellipse, representing a circle lying
in the plane, bounded by two of the axes, is always parallel
to the representation of the other one.

The method of using these data is obvious : Thus, lay off
three lines to represent o a, ob^ oc, at the proper angles by
means of a protractor ; or, if there be none at hand, by the
dimensions a 0, be, c a ; then proceed exactly as in the iso-
metrical projection, making all the lengths, breadths, or
heights severally parallel to <? «, o b, or o c, as will best suit
the subject, and observing to make the measurements with
the proper scales.*

The annexed figures, Plate VIII. represent the same object
in each of the arrangements described.

* Formulae for computing the numbers.

A, B, C, being the angles which the axes make with the orthographic
plane, there is

(1) cos 2A + cos 2B + cos ' C = 2

(2) cos a 0 6 = tan A tan B

(3) rtc 2 = ( V 2 — sin A + sin C) (V 2 + sin A — sin C)

cos 2 A
opfOq, or being the lines in which the planes aoh,bo c,coa intersect the
orthogi-aphic plane, and P, Q, R, being the angles which these lines make
with the axes represented by o a, o 6, o c, there is

(4) poo = qoa = rob = 90^

. ^ sin A . ^ sin B . ^ sin C

o n being the representation of any other line inclined to o a, lying in the plan e
aob,v its real length, N the angle which it makes with the orthographi c
plane, and n the angle which it makes with op, there is

(6) tan poll ^^ tan n sin C

(7) sin N = sin n cos C

/ox cos N

(8) on = , T-

cos A

D being the diameter of a circle in the object represented there is

sinC
Minor diameter of ellipse in plane a o 6 = D ^^^ ^

boc — D tan A

sin B

coa = D

cos A

Major diameter of ellipse in any plane = D —,

( 386 )

Observations upon the important part which Microscopic Or-
ganisms play in the choking up of the Harbours of IVismar
and Pillau ; also in the Formation of the Mud which is
deposited in the bed of the Elbe^ at Cuxhaven, and upon
the agency of similar phenomena in the Formation of the
bed of the Nile, at Dongola, in Nubia, and in the Delta of
Egypt. By M. Ehrenberg.*

During the course of the year 1839, M. Ehrenberg made
special researches upon the form of the mud-banks in the har-
bour of Wismar in the Baltic, and procured the following re-
sult, which he communicated to the Society des Amis des
Sciences Naturelles, on the 18th of February 1840 : namely,
that from l-20th to l-4th of the mass of deposited mud con-
sisted partly of living Infusoria, and partly of the empty shells
of siliceously enveloped and dead Infusoria. Last year, 1840,
he repeated these researches, and obtained a precisely similar
result.

In the harbour of Wismar, according to the documents
which were officially communicated by M. Kose, it appears
that every week 36 lasts of this mud are deposited, every
last weighing 6000 lb. ; so that it may be deduced, after seven
and a half months of observation, that there is an annual
deposit of 1080 lasts, or of 32,400 metrical cwt., or of 6480
cubic metres. For a century, and probably more, matters
have proceeded in this way without interruption ; so that
during the last hundred years, there has been deposited by the
running waters at Wismar 108,000 lasts, equal to 3,240,000
cwt, or 648,000 cubic metres of this mud. Hence, then, sup-
posing, which is very nearly correct, that 1-lOth of this mass
consists of visible organic matter, there has been deposited at
Wismar, during the last century, of these microscopic siliceous
organisms, 64,800 cubic metres, or annually 648 cubic metres,
which, when dry, cannot constitute more than 1-lOth, and
probably not more than l-40th or even less of the total weight.

The results which had been obtained at Wismar in the

* Report of a memoir read to the Berlin Academy of Sciences in March
1841.

M. Ehrenberg's Observations on Microscopic Organisms. 387

year 1840 suggested the idea to M. Hagen to make similar
experiments upon the deposits at Pillau, and to communicate
his observations. The specimens of the deposits which he
transmitted to M. Ehrenberg are still richer in organized be-
ings than those of Wismar. They often constitute, according
to the result of forty experiments made upon different samples,
one fourth, and sometimes even a half of the entire volume.
Hence it will follow, that at Pillau also there is annually se-
parated from the running waters from 7200 to 14,400 cubic
metres of pure microscopic organisms, which, in the course of
a century, would supply, in this place alone, a deposit of from
720,000 to 1,140,000 cubic metres of infusory rock or tripoli
stone.

Both at Wismar and Pillau there is to be met with in the
organized materials, some forms which are entirely. new, and
others which belong to the waters of the ocean. As it regards
the best harbour, which is in the channel called Pillau-Hafe,
the north wind often causes the sea-water to flow into the
river.

M. Ehrenberg also alludes to the researches he made con-
cerning the muds of the river Elbe at Cuxhaven, and which
were submitted to the attention of the Berlin Academy in the
year 1839. These muds also appeared to be composed, to
the extent of nearly half their volume, partly of Infusoria with
siliceous heads, and partly of Polythalames with calcareous
heads.

To these observations M. Ehrenberg now adds the results
of his recent observations upon the mud of the Nile, the de-
posit of which has, from the remotest period, attracted the at-
tention of the curious. He has purposely compared with
this mud, African deposits procured from Daebbe and Ambu-
kohl, in Dongola, — from Tangcur, in Nubia, — from Thebes
and Gyzeh, in Upper Egypt, — from Boulak, near Cahira, —
and from Damietta, in Lower Egypt. He has also in his pos-
session specimens of the ancient deposits of the Nile, which
M. Parthey and Lieutenant- General Minutoli brought to Ber-
lin. In all these specimens, he has found that the Sponges,
the Siliceous Infusoria, and, especially from the neighbourhood
of Damietta, the calcareous Polythalames of the arable districts

388 M. Ehrenberg's Observations on Microscopic Organisms,

on the margin of the Nile, existed in such vast abundance,
that without going the length of asserting that they absolutely
predominate, still it is a fact, that there is not a particle of
this soil of the size of half a pin's head in which, making no
allowance for the chemical changes which may have taken
place, there was not one and frequently many of these animals.
We may now, therefore, safely affirm, that the deposits in
harbours, and even the accumulation and the extraordinary
fertility of the mud of the Nile, and probably of all other river
deposits, proceed not solely from the gradual destruction and
mechanical transport of one portion of solid soil to the forma-
tion of another, no more than that they are solely the product
of the vegetation of plants ; but, on the contrary, that they
result from the immensely rapid agency, hitherto scarcely re-
cognised as vital, of animal organisms, which are undiscernible
to the naked eye, but whose quantitative and natural limits
must henceforward be inquired into, and which, from this
time, must be considered as possessing a very important in-
fluence upon these natural phenomena.

Vegetable Fhysiology.
Cause of the concentric rings in trees. — Theory leads to the
presumption that in those countries which are uniformly warm
and moist, we should not be able to calculate the ages of trees
by the same rule as in our temperate climates, in other words,
by the number of concentric ligneous rings, or layers. In fact,
the arrangement of the wood of our forest trees in layers has
always been considered as produced by an interruption in the
formation of their tissue, an interruption which is caused by
the reign of winter in these colder countries. It is probable
that the excessive droughts which lead to the fall of the leaf
in the trees of some countries, such as the interior of Brazil,
in Senegal and Egypt, produce a somewhat analogous effect.
But, on the other hand, in the forests of intertropical regions,
where heat and humidity invariably predominate, the growth
of trees ought to be sensibly regular throughout the whole of
the year. This has been observed in the coesalpinia and other
dye-woods. It is desirable that individuals who are favourably
circumstanced for making observations of this nature, would

Dr Graham's List of Kare Plants, 389

take the trouble of verifying the facts which occur in each
species of tree in particular ; and examine if there be any
among them in which a suspension of the growth common
in the species does not produce layers irrespective of the cli-
mate, as happens in cold or very arid countries by a cause ex-
ternal to the tree. Certain observations which have been
made by M. A. Leduc, at Galega, and transmitted to M. de
Candolle at Geneva, manifest that in the Casuarina the number
of concentric layers does not at all correspond with the years
of the tree's age ; and that in a tree whose growth is only of
eight years, not fewer than forty- two concentric layers may
be counted. Further details may be found in the Bibl. Univ.
de Geneve, No. 65. 1841.

Description of several New or Bare Plants which have lately
flowered in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh^ and chiefly in
the Poyal Botanic Garden. By Dr Graham, Professor of
Botany.

10<A September 1841.

Bignonia speciosa. — Tweedie.

B. speciosa, foliis binatis, cirrhiferis, foliolis obovato-oblongis, lucidis ;
pedunculis terminalibus, bifloris ; starainibus pistillisque inclusis.
Bignonia speciosa. Bot. Mag. 3888.
Description. — Stem long, straggling, woody, climbing. Leaves petio-
late ; petioles (4^ lines long) opposite, spreading wide, bearing at tho
apex two leaflets, and having a long simple cirrhus between these ; leaf-
lets (about 3 inches long, 1^ inch broad) undulate, elliptical, glabrous
and shining, bright green, reticulate, on two slightly unequal partial
petioles less than half the length of the general petioles, midrib pro-
minent behind ; petiole, cirrhus, and one of the leaflets occasionallv
awanting, when the other leaflet is attached to the branch by its par-
tial petiole only ; leaves when very young, as well as the young
branches, the general and partial petioles, covered with short soft
pubescence. Stipules several, lanceolate, slightly coloured, scattered
upon the common petiole, caducous. Flowers lar^e and handsome,
geminate, terminal, erect, pcdicelled, the one expanding rather before
the other. Peduncles (I inch long) erect, parallel. Calyx campanu-
latc, green, glabrous, with six (5'?) shallow sinuosities, alternating
with an equal number of long subulate or filamentous erect teeth.
Corolla (nearly 3 inches long, and 2 across when fully expanded) co-
vered within and without with short pubescence ; tube compressed
dorsally, plaited below, yellowish on the outside, of brighter yellow
Avithin, and streaked with lilac ; limb bilabiate, ^ lobed, lilac, paler
on the outside, and having dark veins within, lobes blunt, undulate,
the upper reflected, tho lower longer, reflected towards tho apex, tho
two outer of the three repand. Stamens colourless and glabrous, tho

390 Dr Graham's List of Bare Plants.

outer reaching to about the middle of the tube, the two others more
than lialf as long, forming two arches by the approximation of the
anthers, the lobes of which are divaricated ; pollen pale yellow; abor-
tive stamen more than a third of the length of the shortest pair, subu-
late and waved. Pistil rather longer than the longest stamens; stigma
bilamcllate, the lamelloc subequal, crenulate, and slowly excitable by
being touched ; germen pale yellow, slightly fun-owed on two sides,
minutely warted, every other part of the pistil glabrous, bilocular,
dissepiment inserted opposite to the furrows. Ovules numerous.
This is a very ornamental species when trained along the roof of a stove.
A plant was received at the garden of the Caledonian Horticultural
Society, from Woburn Abbey, in November 1839, and flowered in April
and May 1841. It had been imported, under the name here adopted,
from Mr Tweedie, at Buenos-Ayres, and had been found by him in
Uraguay.

Geranium costatum. — Grah,

G. costatum^ perenne, caule erecto, dichotomo, adpresse sericeo, foliis
inferioribus longe petiolatis subpeltatis, superioribus snbsessilibus ;
omnibus rugosis hispidis 3-5 lobis, lobis ovatis vel obovatis acutis ;
petiolis divergentibus, medio ascendentibus; stipulis marcesccntibus
ovato-acuminatis ; pedunculis bifloris ; bracteis subulatis, revolutis.

Description. — Stem erect, dichotomous, silky, with adpressed hairs.
Stipules free, marcescent, ovato-acuminate. Leaves covered sparingly
on both sides with erect pubescence, which is particularly harsh above ;
rugose, ribs and veins very prominent below, channelled above ; lower
leaves (from the sinus to the apex of the middle lobe 3 inches long, their
greatest breadth 5 inches) 5-lobed, lobes obovate, acute, incise-ser-
rated, entire and cuneate towards their base, petiolate ; petioles as long
as the greatest breadth of the leaves, spreading at the base, and ascend-
ing in the middle, silky with adpressed pubescence similar to that on
the stem, at the apex, as well as the ribs on the lower surface of the
leaf, purplish ; upper leaves subsessile, 3-lobed, lobes ovate, acuminate.
Peduncles more than half as long as the petioles of the lower leaves,
round, covered with spreading hairs, 2-flowered, bracts 4 at the bifur-
cation, subulate, revolute pedicels at length about half as long as
the peduncle. Flowers {\^ inch, across when fully expanded) light
purple, expanding in succession, large and handsome. Sepals ovato-
elliptical, covered with spreading hairs marked with 3 strong dark-
coloured ribs, and tipped by a recurved appendage. Petals more than
twice as long as the calyx, alternating with small green glands, slightly
emarginate, every where glabrous except at their insertion, where they
are colourless, and especially on the inside hairy, ciliated for a little
way above this, marked with dark-coloured ribs, slightly reticulated.
Stamens ten erect, filaments flattened at the base, and there hairy on
the outside, every where else glabrous, colourless below, purple at the
tips ; anthers dark purple. Germens and cohering styles green and
hairy ; stigmata purple and spreading.

This very distinct and handsome species was raised at the Botanic Gar-
den, Edinburgh, from seeds sent by my friend Dr Falconarfrom Cash-
mecr in 1839. It flowered for the first time in the cold frame in June
1841, and no doubt is perfectly hardy. It probably should be placed
next to Geranium Ibericum in the arrangement of the species.

Lasiopetalum macrophyllum. — Grah.

L. macrophijllum ; foliis deltoideo-ovatis, trinerviis ; bracteis tribus;
lanceolato-ellipticis, segmentis calycinis intus glabris; ovario 5-lo-
culare.

Dr Graham's List of Bare Plants. ' 391

Description. — Shrub erect. Stem robust (in the specimen described,
which is still growing freely, 5 feet high) bark brown, cracked, rough ;
branches, and especially the young twigs, covered closely with light-
coloured tomentum, mixed with stellate rusty pubescence. Leaves
(5-7 inches long, 2^3 inches broad) petiolate, deltoideo-ovatc, slightly
cordate at the base, green and hispid above, densely covered with
white tomentum mixed with rufous stellate pubescence below, espe-
cially along the ribs and veins, undulate, obscurely sinuated, when
young tomentum and pubescence alike on both sides, 3-nerved, and
often with a small additional nerve on cnch side, reticulately veined,
the nerves and veins prominent below. Corymbs, opposite to the leaves,
digitate, the branches flat during full flowering, before and after this
connivent. Flowers arranged alternately along the branches of the
corymb, shortly pedicellate, cernuous, secund, so as to form a flat con-
tinuous surface looking downwards. Bracts 3, lanceolato-elliptical,
at the apex of each pedicel, and adprcssed to the outer side of the
flower. Calyx 5 -partite, alternate with the bracts, segments ovate,
acute, with 7 parallel nerves on the inside, where they arc greenish
white. Petals minute, purple, elliptical, undulate, alternate with the
segments of the calyx. Stamens 5, opposite to the petals ; filaments
nearly colourless, thrice as long as the petals, and about ^ of the length
of the calyx ; anthers purple, about half as long as the filaments, to
which they are attached by the back, the face being turned outwards,
linear, with an inconspicuous connective, bursting by two pores at the
apex. Pistil about as long as the filaments ; siigma inconspicuous ;
style straight, erect, and this with the inside of the calyx are the only
parts attached to the corymb which are glabrous, every other part be-
ing more or less densely covered with light tomentum and rufous stel-
late pubescence ; germen globular, densely covered with harsh stellate
pubescence, which here is of a pinkish colour, 5-locular, cells glabrous
within, and containing several ovula attached to central placenta?.

This very distinct species was raised from New South AVales seeds trans-
mitted to the Botanic Garden in July 1835, by the late Mr Richard
Cunningham. It has been kept in the greenhouse, and flowered freely
for the first time in May 1841.

Ligustrum grandiflorum. — Hortul.

L. grandijlorum ; ramulis pedicellisque villosis ; foliis ovatis, utrinque
glabris.

Description. — Shrub erect, bark grey and cracked, branches spreading
wide or pendulous, twigs villous. Leaves opposite, ovate, acute, very
slightly attenuated at the base, pale green, glabrous on both sides,
petiolate, folded forward along the middle rib, veins few, distinct,
little reticulated ; petiole short, channelled. Panicle terminal, villous.
Bracts solitary at the origin of the pedicels, minute, caducous. Flowers
numerous, white, every where glabrous. Calyx small, cup-shaped,
greenish yellow, with 4 minute teeth. Corolla white, 4-partito, seg-
ments elliptical, spreading Avide. Stamens 2 ; filaments geniculate
near the apex, as long as the corolla, to the tube of which they adhere ;
anthers elliptical, attached by their middle, at the joint bent forwards
upon the filament ; pollen granules minute, spherical, yellow, the only
part of the flower except the calyx and germen which is not pure
white. Pistil shorter than the filaments ; germen globular, pale green,
glabrous ; style somewhat tortuous ; stigma oblong, blunt.

We received this plant at the Botanic Garden from Mr Atkins, nursery-
man, Northampton, in 1831), under the name adopted. It is said to

392 Dr Graham's List of Bare Plants,

have been imported from Japan, and may therefore probably bear cul-
tivation, at least against a wall, in the open air, but this we have not
yet ascertained. Our specimen flowered freely in the greenhouse for
the first time in April 1841, and continued in blossom for a long time.

Marian thus coeruleo-punctatus. — Link, Klotzsch, and Otto.

M. coeruko-punctatiis ; caule volubile, ramoso, filiforme, adpresse pi-
loso ; foliis subsessilibus, utrinque pilosis, superioribus lanceolato-
cllipticis intcgerrimis, inferioribus spathulatis inciso-serratis ; cymis
umbellatis, multifloris; sepalis subulatis, pilosis; petalis spathulato-
lanceolatis, acutis.

Marianthus coeruleo-punctatus. — Link, Klotzsch, and Otto. Icon. PI.

Ear. Hort. Reg. Bot. Berol. p. 28. t. 12. Bot. Mag. 3893.
Drummond's Swan River Plants, No. 3, in Herb. Hook,

Description. — Stem slender, woody, branched, twining, having adpressed
pubescence. Leaves (2\ inches long, -J inch broad) nearly sessile,
scattered, spreading, green, paler behind, covered tn both sides with
long subappressed somewhat deciduous hairs, the upper lanceolato-
clliptical entire, the lower spathulate incise-serrated ; midrib chan-
nelled in front, prominent behind, veins oblique, seen chiefly behind,
slightly reticulated. Stipules none. Peduncles solitary, opposite to
the upper leaf, elongated, erect, urabollato-cymose, many-flowered,
slightly covered with adpressed pubescence, pedicels rather shorter
than the peduncles, several of them simple, others irregularly divided,
erect, slender, swelling a little at the apex. Bracts placed at the ori-
gin of the pedicels, subulate, hairy, reflexed, caducous. Flowers erect,
irregular. Calyx 5-sepalous, sepals resembling the bracts, imbricated,
subequal, linear-subulate, diverging at the apices, green, covered on
the outside with long spreading hairs, deciduous. Corolla irregular,
lilac, paler on the outside, pentapetalous, hypogynous, glabrous, alter-
nating with the sepals, imequal, the lowest the longest, each striated
with three nerves behind, imbricated ; claws converging into a tube,
edges inflected ; limb spreading, slightly reflexed, laminaj spathulato-
lanceolate, apiculate, 4 of them ascending, the whole of the lower
half of the two upper, and generally half the breadth of the lower half
of the two next, sprinkled on the inside with oblong dark lilac spots.
Stamens 5, all fertile, alternate with the petals, and half as long as
them, hypogynous ; filaments nearly colourless, ascending, glabrous,
swelling a little in their lower half, channelled on both sides, the
lowest the longest ; anthers dark lilac, bilocular, reflected at the apex,
lobes diverging at the base, attached in the sinus, bursting by two
elongated slits, which finally extend along the front to the base of the
lobes ; pollen granules oblong, of dark lilac colour. Pistil shorter
than the stamens, nearly straight; stigma minute, of two at length
spreading teeth ; style subulate, scarcely ascending ; germen green,
oblong, glabrous, shorter than the calyx, slightly furrowed on two
sides, bilocular, raised on a short tumid footstalk. Ovules numerous,
ovato-kidney-shapcd, attached in the sinus by a short cord to an in-
conspicuous central placenta.
This very curious and interesting plant flowered in the stove of Mr Cun-
ningham's nursery. Comely Bank, in March 1841, I believe for the
first time in Britain, and very soon after it flowered in the greenhouse
of the Royal Botanic Garden. These were weak specimens, and nei-
ther from them, nor from the Berlin figure quoted above, could I have
had any idea of the beauty of the species. The specimen in Sir Wil-
liam Hooker's Herbnrium, however, from which in part the figure in
the Botanical Magazine was taken, shews how very ornamental the

Dr Graham's List of Bare Plants, 39*^

plant will be as soon as the bo8t mode of cultivating it shall be ascer-
tainod. Both Mr Cunningham's specimen, and those which we pos-
sess in the Botanic Garden, were obtained from Mr Low of Clapton,
who informs me that he raised it in 1839, " from seed received from
Mr William Morison, of the Swan River Settlement, and marked
Sollya or Bellardiera sp. from tlie Darling Range of Mountains," The
Clapton Nursery is distinguished by many seedling novelties from the
same settlement.

Oxalis lasiandra. Hort. Berol.

O. lasiandra ; foliis omnibus radicalibus digitatis, foliolis 7-9 oblongo-
spathulatis, parce pilosis, apice integerrimis ; scapo folio superante,
umbellate, multi-(20-)floro; sepalis lincari-ellipticis, obtusis, apice
striis quatuor conflucntibus ; staminibus injBqualibus, longioribus
dentatis, stylos divergentes duplo superantibus.
Oxalis lasiandra, Bot. Mag. 3896.
Description. — Leaves all radical, digitate ; petioles round, red, pretty
densely covered with long spreading hairs, terminating in an abrupt
somewhat callous apex ; leaflets 7-9 (3 inches long, 1 broad) spring-
ing from callous bases around the edge of the apex of the petiole, el-
liptico-spathulate, quite entire at the apex and edges, undulate, rather
coarsely veined, of dark green, and distantly sprinkled with long
spreading hairs above, below paler spotted with crimson and glabrous,
except on the strong middle rib and veins, where there are hairs ra-
ther more numerous, but shorter, than on the upper surface of the
leaf. Scapes rather larger than the petioles and twice as tall, paler
red or greenish, fistulous only at the base, tapering towards the apex,
having hairs similar to those on the petioles, but scarcely so nume-
rous, umbellate, many-(about 20-)flowered. Bracts formed into an
involucre of several unequal diaphanous scales. Flowers large and
handsome, developed in succession, crimson, especially on the inside
and where the petals overlap each other, the exposed part of the outer
side being paler than the rest. Sepals linear-elliptical, blunt, green,
covered externally with glandular hairs, and having at. the apex four
orange-coloured lines which coalesce upwards. Petals nearly thrice
as long as the sepals, with very fine glandular pubescence on the out-
side, obovate, entire, attenuated and greenish at the base, cohering
above their insertion. Stamens ten, unequal, the shorter simple, and
about as long as the styles, the longer toothed on the outside, covered
with glandular pubescence, and scarcely exceeding the length of the
sepals ; anthers yellow, elliptical, attached by the middle, turned out-
wards, and bursting longitudinally. Pistil every where glabrous and
green ; germen oblong, of five lobes ; styles short, stout, furrowed on
their inner side, divaricated from their origin ; stigmata large, warted.
This singular species is a native of Mexico, but I do not know from what
part of that territory it was introduced, though, from its constitution,
I do not doubt that it is a native of the table land. It approaches
most nearly to Oxalis decaphylla, or perhaps to 0, Hernandcsii, if these
two be distinct from each other ; it differs from these, however, in
the entire leaflets, the number and appearance of the hairs upon their
surface, the number of flowers in the umbel, their colour, the spotting
at the apex of the sepals, and in the unequal stamens. "We received
it at the Royal Botanic Garden from tlie garden at Berlin, in Novem-
ber 1840, under the MS. name adopted. Mr James M'Nab tells me
it is there cultivated in the open ground, forming an edging to the
walks. With us it flowered in the green-house, and continued in
beauty during many weeks. At Berlin, in the open air, it was not
above nine inches high, with us more than twice as much.

394 Dr Graliam*s List of Bare Plants,

Podotlieca gnaphalioidcs. Gmh,

P. gnaphalioides, foliis lanceolato-linearibus, involucro imbricate, co-
nico, corollis breviori, squamis inajqualibus, exterioribus ovato-lan-
ceolatis, lierbaceis, extrorsuin glanduloso-pubescentibus, introrsum
lauatis, interioribus linearibus, scariosis.

Description. — Annual. Stem much branched at the base ; branches ge"
nerally subdivided at the top, glanduloso-pubescent, enlarged like an
obverse hollow cone under the capitulum. Leaves scattered, lanceolate-
linear, smaller upwards, entire, glanduloso-pubescent on both sides,
3 -nerved, the middle rib strong, the edges reflexed. Capitula solitary,
terminal. Involucre (1^ inch long) conical; scales adpressed, imbricated,
the outer ones herbaceous, ovato-lanceolate, acute glanduloso-pubes-
cent on the outside, woolly within, the inner ones linear, coriaceous,
glabrous, except at the apex where they are woolly, and where some
of them are herbaceous and lanceolate. Receptacle convex, tubercled,
without hairs or chaffs. Flowers yellow, longer than the involucre,
and forming upon its apex a spheroidal head. Corolla tubular, gla-
brous ; tube very slender, dilated at the apex ; limb 5 -partite, spread-
ing, segments ovate, blunt. Stamens included, inserted below the di-
lated portion of the tube ; anthers with some soft waved hairs at their
base, and an ovate subacute free appendage at the apex of each. Ger-
men white, oblong, hairy, with an oblique oblong pit at the base,
from the centre of which is protruded a slender and short but firm
thread by which it is attached to the outside of the base of the cor-
responding conical tubercle on the receptacle. Style exserted, bifid,
segments revolute. Stigmata blunt. Pappus of 5 scales, united at
the base, much attenuated upwards, nearly as long as the tube of the
corolla, pluntose.
This very distinct species was raised at the nursery of Messrs James
t Dickson and Sons, Edinburgh, in 1841, from a collection of Swan
River seeds communicated the year before by Mrs Murray, Lintrose.
It flowered abundantly in July and August, but ripened no seed. It
has, however, been struck from cuttings by Mr Kelly, the intelligent
superintendent of that establishment.

Rhododendron anthopogon. Don,

R, anthopogon, ramulis pubescentibus, ferrugineo-lepidotis ; foliis sera-
pervirentibus, ellipticis, subtus dense lepidotis demum ferrngineis ;
capitulis strobuliformibus ; floribus pentandris ; calyce 5-partito,
segmentis oblongis ; corolla hypocrateriformi, limbo 5-partito, seg-
mentis subrotundis, fauce lanatis ; staminibus inclusis.

Rhododendron anthopogon, Don, Fl. Nepal. 153. Wall. Cat. No.
759. Boyle Illust. t. 64. DC. Prodr. 7725.

Description. — Shrub (in the specimen described 15 inches high, 18
inches in diameter) much branched, compact ; branches pubescent,
and covered with brown scales. Leaves (1^ inch long, ^ inch broad)
collected towards the extremities of the branches, petiolate, elliptical,
entire, coriaceous, evergreen, mucronulate, densely covered below with
scales which at first ai"e pale green but soon become rusty, glabrous
dark green and shining above, having a strong middle rib, and a few
oblique sparingly reticulated veins channelled above; petiole erect,
rounded on the back, channelled in front, scaly like the branches. Capi-
Uda terminal, encased by a few large ovate keeled rusty ciliated bracts,

Dr Graham's List of Rare Plants. 395

the dilated petioles of leaves, of which the diminislied laminee are oc-
casionally seen upon the apices of the lower ; similar bracts, but rather
smaller, and less keeled, are repeated on the outside of each pedicel-
late flower in the capitulum, and on each side at the base of each pe-
dicel there is an elongated narrow spathulate bract stretching a little
way beyond the calyx. Calyx as long as the pedicel, 5-partite, the
segments green, elliptical, tomentous at the edges, the three outer the
largest. CoroZte yellowish- white, salver-shaped ; the tube cylindrical,
curved outwards, 3-4 times as long as the calyx, glabrous ; limb very
oblique, 5-partite, lobes subrotund, overlapping, undulate, shorter than
the tube, glabrous, without nectary ; throat closed by a dense tuft of
white wool, which extends fully half-way down the tube. Stamens
five, hypo;5ynous, erect, included, longer than the calyx ; filaments
slender, glabrous ; anthers adnate, erect, swelling upwards, opening
by two pores at the apex, without awns ; pollen white, granules mi-
nute, round. Pistil shorter than the stamens; stigma capitate ob-
scurely lobed, green, covering the oblong apex of the stout, compress-
ed, clavate style ; gernien 5-lobcd, 5-cellcd, the dissepiments oppo-
site to the stamens, which lie in the furrows between the lobes.
Ovales numerous, upon linear central placentse which project their edge
into the cells.
The Countess of Rosslyn has taken great pains to form at Dysart House
an unusually extensive collection of the different species and superb va-
rieties of rhododendron, and, placed under the judicious management
of the gardener Mr Blair, they thrive and flower in a manner not sur-
passed in any collection in Britain. Among these the rare species
now described forms a dense bush. It was obtained from Messrs
Loddiges five years ago, and during each of the last three years it has
flowered in the open border, abundantly in April, and partially in Au-
gust. I am not aware that it has flowered anywhere else in the
country. It is native of the Himalaya Mountains, and extends, as
we are informed by Dr Royle, along the range, from Nepal to Cash-
mere, never descending lower than 9000 feet above the level of the
sea, but rising to an elevation exceeding 14,000 feet, with the last
remains of woody plants|; Rhododendron lepidotum and Salix Lindley-
ana alone being found in company with it. DecandoUe notices the
different evidence regarding the number of stamens by different au-
thors. The number may vary, but I am quite certain that in all the
flowers of the cultivated plant which I examined there were uniform-
ly five. The native specimens which I received from Dr Wallich
have no perfect flowers. The cultivated plant difl'ers from Dr Royle's
figure in being of much paler colour, in the segments of the corolla
being much broader, overlapping, and undulate, and in the bracts be-
ing rusty rather than yellow.

Strobilanthes sessilis. N'ees von Esenbeck,

S. sessilis, herbacea, hirsutissima ; caule erecto quadrangular! ; foliis
sessilibus, ovatis, acuminatis, crenatis ; spicis axillaribus, oppositis,
terrainalibusque ; bracteis ovatis, cuspidatis. Nc(is von JSsen,

Strobilanthes sessilis Nees von Esen. in Wall. PL Asiat. Bar. vol. iii.
p. 85. Herb. Wight, propr. No. 1946.

Dbscription. — Perennial. Stems (1 foot 6 inches high) numerous, her-
baceous, simple, erect, 4-sided, very hairy ; hairs very unequal in
length, spreading, acute. Leaves opposite, decussating, spreading
wide, subsessile, cordato-ovate, subacurainate, crenato-repand, with a
little deflected callosity in each notch, wrinkled, concave above.

396 Dr Graham's List of Bare Plants.

where they are darker than^helow, covered with harsh hairs on both
sides, middle rib and reticulated veins very prominent below, chan-
nelled above. Capitula shortly pedunculate, terminal or in the axils
of the upper leaves, ovate, strobuliform. Bracts resembling dimi-
nished leaves, but less wrinkled, narrower, erect, and slightly colour-
ed. Flowers solitary and sessile in the axils of the bracts, expanding
in succession from below upwards, and several at a time. Calyx ra-
ther shorter than the bracts, 5-partite, bilabiately compressed, pale
green, hairy, segments lanceolate, subequal, the odd segment supe-
rior, hairs glandular. Corolla funnel-shaped, rather more than twice
as long as the bracts, lilac, closely covered on the outside with short
glandular pubescence, and within the tube having many long hairs ;
tube cylindrical and narrow for about half the length of the bract, or
about one-fifth of its own length, above this inflated, and this por-
tion is also cylindrical when fully expanded, but before this compres-
sed dorsally ; limb 5-lobed, sub-spreading, lobes round or emarginate,
subequal, much broader than long, folded irregularly, convolutely im-
bricated, the odd lobe inferior. Stamens 4, didynamous, included, in-
serted above the contracted portion of the tube, apd applied along its
upper side, the longer about two-thirds of the length of the corolla,
and having their filaments hairy, the shorter half the length of the
free portion of the others, their filaments glabrous, and connected at
their base by a narrow transverse erect ridge, in the middle of which
rises a small point, the rudiment of a fifth stamen ; anthers large, bi-
locular, approximated in pairs, blunt, lobes parallel, opening along the
front; pollen abundant, granules oblong. Pistil rather longer than
the longest stamens ; style hairy, swollen and geniculate towards the
top ; stigma subulate, and having a remarkable ridge along the upper
side, leading to an elongated depression towards the knee of the style,
both the ridge, which seems a free thin double membrane, and the
depression being most conspicuous in the unexpanded flower ; germen
seated on an orange-coloured disk, oblong, green, glabrous, except at
the apex where there are some short glandular hairs, unilocular.
Ovales two on each side of the incomplete dissepiment, ovate, com-
pressed.
This plant, whose blossoms are very handsome, was raised at the Bo-
tanic Garden, from seeds sent by Dr Lush from Bombay in 1833, and
flowered in the stove for the first time in 1839, but much more freely
in April 1841. I suspect there is a mistake in the opinion that this
species has been discovered in the southern part of the peninsula of
India. The idea has been suggested by its existing in the Herbarium
of Dr Wight, but this is not suflicient evidence. I am convinced Dr
Wight had it in very sparing quantity, because he most liberally dis-
tributed his duplicates ; I partook through his great kindness very
largely of these, but I have no specimen of this. Further, Nees von
Esenbeck observes, that Dr Wight gives no locality for the species ^^
and lastly, I find it stated in Graham's Catalogue of Plants growing
in Bombay and its vicinity, p. 1G3, that two supposed new species of
the genus had been sent by Mr Law to Dr Wight. I think it pro-
bable that one of these is our plant, and therefore that the neigh-
bourhood of Bombay is the only part of India where it has yet been
obsei-\-ed. I have compared my plant with Dr Wight's specimens now
in the possession of Dr Arnott^, and find them to be identical. These
specimens are numbered 1946, not 38, as quoted by Nees.

( 397 )

Proceedings of the Boi/al Society of Edinburgh,

1841, March 1— -The Right Hon. Lord Greenock, V.P.,
in the Chair. The following Communications were read : —

1. On the Sea-Level of the Neapolitan Coast. By Sir John
S. Forbes, Bart.

This paper is intended to give an account of the more recent researches
of the Italian antiquaries and geologists connected with the well-known
temple of Jupiter Serapis at Pozzuoli, which have been verified in
several particulars by the author, by personal inspection^ and extended
to other parts of the western coast of Italy, where traces of marine
lithophagi have been found at a height, as alleged by Niccolini, of even
250 feet above the present sea-level.

The most interesting modern observations are those of Niccolini on
the actual change of relative level of the sea and land, ascertained by
a fixed gauge which he has observed frequently between 1823 and 1838.
In that time the land appears to have risen through a height of 1 1 2
millimetres or 4j inches ; and this change has been progressively and
not suddenly effected.

2. On the Supposed Progress of Human Society from Savage
to Civilized Life, as connected with the Domestication of
Animals and the Cultivation of the Cerealia. By John
Stark, Esq.

1841, March 15. — Dr Abercrombie, V.P., in the Chair.

1. On the Parallel Roads of Glen-Roy, with an Examination

of Mr Darwin's Theory of their Formation, Part I. By
Sir T. D. Lauder, Bart.

2. On the Polarizability of Heat from different Sources. By

Professor Forbes.

The author of this paper states in it his belief, that the curious fact
formerly announced to the Society of the greater permeability of mica,
laminated by heat, to heat of low temperature, contrary to the usual
character of the same substance (a property which he has since extended
(see Proceedings, Jan. 1840) to changes of mechanical conditions of
surface), may very probably explain, as M. Melloni anticipates, the

VOL. XXXI. NO. LXII. OCTOBER 1841. C C

398 Proceedings of the Boyal Society.

difference in point of fact long contested between them as to the equal
or unequal polarizability of heat from different sources.

3. Account of the Fossil Species of the genus Sotarmm, La-
marck, found in the Supercretaceous group in Italy. By
M. le Chev. Michelotti of Turin. Communicated by Dr
Traill.

^pril 5. — Sir T. M. Brisbane, Bart., G.C.B., President, in
the Chair.

1. On the Parallel Roads of Glen-Roy. with an Examination

of Mr Darwin's Theory of their Formation, Part II. By
Sir T. D. Lauder, Bart.

2. On the Visibility of rapidly revolving Lights, made in re-

ference to the Improvement of Light-Houses. By Alan
Stevenson, LL.B., Civil Engineer.

^przt 19. — The Right Hon. Lord Greenock, V.P., in the
Chair. The following communications were read : —

1. On the Theory and Construction of a Seismometer — an

Instrument for Measuring Earthquake Shocks and other
Concussions. By Professor Forbes.

2. On the Circulation of the Blood, and the Difference of the

Laws of Fluids moving in Living and Dead Tubes. Part L
By Sir Charles Bell.

3fay 3. — Right Hon. Lord Greenock, V.P., in the Chair.
The following communications were read : —

1. Experimental Researches on the Production of Silicon from
Paracyanogen. By Samuel Brown, M.D. Communi-*
cated by Dr Christison.

In his paper on Paracyanogen read to this Society at an earlier pe-
riod of the present session^ the author announced that he considered lie
had succeeded in proving, that two familiar bodies^ universally believed
to be distinct elements, are modifications of one and tlie same elemen-
tary form. In the present paper, he announced that the bodies in
question are carbon and silicon, and gave a detailed statement of the
invest igaljons by which he had been led to this conclusion*

Proceedings of the 'Royal Society* ^9*

1. Silicon may be obtained from unconibincd paracyanogen. — When
paracyanogen, prepared from bicyanide of mercury by lieat under pres-
sure, as described in his former paper, was subjected to prolonged heat
in a closed tube of German glass, a dark-brown substance was obtained
which presented all the diagnostic characters of silicon. More especially
it was incombustible before the blow-pipe, underwent no change on be-
ing projected into fused chlorate of potash, but dissolved with efferves-
cence in fused carbonate of potash, forming a white saline substance,
in which silica was detected by its ordinary reagents. The same ex-
periment was performed with the like result on a larger scale in a por-
celain crucible ; and the quantity of silicon produced came within a very
small amount of the carbon contained, by theory, in the paracyanogen
employed. When paracyanogen is heated with carbonate of potassa,
silicic acid is obtained at once. A variety of experiments were described,
the purpose of which was to obviate all fallacy that might be supposed
to arise from silica being present in the vessels employed.

^. Siliciurets may be obtained by the reaction of paracyanogen on
metals — When bicyanide of mercury was heated in tubes of copper or
iron in the way followed for obtaining paracyanogen, the interior of the
tubes was found to be lined with scales, which consisted, not of paracy-
anide or carburet of these metals, but of their siliciuret. And when
paracyanogen was heated in a platinum crucible several times in suc-
cession till the crucible would absorb nothing more, a compound was
obtained which was a siliciuret of platinum, containing four per cent,
of silicon.

3. When paracyanogen is decomposed in the preceding experiments,
the nitrogen given off corresponds with what is contained by theory in
the compound which yields it. A variety of experiments of analysis
were mentioned to this effect ; from which a farther corroboration was
derived of the conclusion deduced from the author's previous researches,
that the silicon could come only from the-carbon of the paracyanogen.

4. A siliciuret may be obtained from the paracyanide of iron. Under
this section, the author first described the process by which a pure para-
cyanide of iron may be obtained from ferrocyanide of potassium ; and
stated that he had found this compound to consist of one equivalent of
nitrogen, two of carbon, and one of iron. He then observed that he
had been led to suppose this compound to be the true compound radicle
of the so-called ferrocyanides ; on which subject ho proposed to make
ere long a distinct communication to the society. He next proceeded
to explain the results of numerous experiments on the influence of heat
on the paracyanide of iron ; from which it appeared that, under a high

400 Proceedings of the Boj/al Soci$(i/:

tompernture and pressure, a compound was obtained, in which carbon
could not bo detected, but instead of it silicon, in the proportion of 28.5
per cent. To these remarks were added others on ferrocyanide of po-
tassium, which he considers to be resolved in the process into cyanide of
potassium evolved by subUmation, and paracyanide of iron, which at the
same time is decomposed, and yields disiliciuret of iron. The product
obtained in these two ways is, in general, partly in the form of a coaly
powder, partly in fused obsidian-like masses. But if the ferrocyanide
of potassium be heated with its own weight of cyanide of potassium, as
a non-reactive flux, the disiliciuret is obtained in a semicrystalline
form, which in fine powder is colourless, and is seen before the micro-
scope to be transparent like glass ; and sometimes there is an approach
to a crystalline form, nay, small particles may be discovered with the
microscope which are regular octahedres. The disiliciurets of iron thus
produced were treated of by the author in his Inaugural Dissertation in
1 839, as carburets of the metal. (See Trans. Brit. Assoc. 1839, vol. ix.)
Experiments were added under the present section, which satisfied the
author that every conceivable source of silicon, except from the para-
cyanogen, was provided against by the manner in which the experiments
of conversion were performed. Among other facts thus elicited, it ap-
peared, that, by successive operations in the same vessel, a greater
weight of disiliciuret of iron might be obtained than the weight of the
vessel itself.

5. Silicic acid may be obtained by a direct process from the paracy-
anide of iron. The conversion thus accomplished might appear, as the
author conceived, more satisfactory to most persons, than any of the
previous operations, on account of the large scale on which the experi-
ments were performed. When paracyanide of iron was mixed with
four times its weight of carbonate of potash, and ignited in a shut cru-
cible of hammered iron for four hours at a full white heat, a rose-red
saline product was formed, from which a transparent solution was ob-
tained with water ; and when this was supersaturated by hydrochloric
acid, a bulky precipitate was thrown down, which, when purified from
adhering metallic oxide by fusion with carbonate of potash, solution of
the product in water, neutralization with hydrochloric acid, evapora-
tion, desiccation, and ignition, and elutriation with water to remove
chloride of potassium, — presented all the distinctive characters, physical
as well as chemical, of silicic acid. Five grains of paracyanide of iron
thus gave 3.04 of silicic acid ; and 30 grains of ferrocyanide of potassium,
similarly treated, gave 5 A grains of silicic acid. The iron crucible
us:din these operations did notyield a particle of silicic acid whenheated

Proceedings of the IVernerian Society, 401

to a white heat with pure carbonate of potash, — the same salt cm-
ployed in the preceding cases of conversion. A large crucible was
worked seven successive times with 9334 grains in all of ferrocyanide
of potassium ; and 1240 grains of silicic acid were produced.

The author added, that, in the course of several of these operations,
more especially those of the last section, he found the iron to undergo
conversion as well as the carbon ; and in a subsequent paper he pro-
poses to state in detail the facts which lead him to the conclusion that
this metal is a variety of the same elementary form with rhodium.

Proceedings of the IVernerian Natural History Sodietyt
(Continued from Vol. xxx. p. 441.)

March 20. 1841. — Dr Traill^ Vice*President, in the Chair.

A communication was read on the results obtained by Professor
F. L. Leuckart of Freiburg, in Baden, from his extensive invcstigationg
t)n the intermaxillary bone. A notice was given by Mr Milne, advo-
cate, of a black scum which had appeared on Loch Voil in Perthshnc
during the last week of February, and of which a quantity had beeil
collected sufficient to fill two quart bottles. One of those was exhi-
bited. The liquid, when poured out, was of a dark grey colour. It
was described as having an oily appearance when on the water, and
when disturbed, it formed bubbles on the surface ; when touched, it
blackened the fingers. There had been no rain in that part of the
country for five or six days previous ; and there being little snow on
the hills, the streams were not in the least swollen. On the morning
on which the scum was observed, there was a slight frost, and the
weather was very calm, A thick fog hung over the lake till noon,
when a breeze sprung up which dispersed the scum. Mr Stewart of
Ardvorlich, from whom Mr Milne obtained his information, stated that
the substance had every appearance of being the same as what covered
Loch Earn in February 1837- Mr Milne mentioned, that, on that oc-
casion, the substance was proved to have fallen in the atmosphere in
the form of a fine powder, and that clothes bleaching were Covered by
it. The same phenomenon had been observed in October 1839;
throughout the district of Strath earn. Mr Alilne stated, that, in Oc-»
tober 1755, a black powder had fallen in great quantity in Zetland*
which besmeared the hands, faces, and «iotii%s of workmen in the fields.

402 Proceedings of the TTernerian Society.

From what source the dark substance forming the scum on Loch Voil
was derived, it were difficult to say. Dr Traill mentioned, that, in
Orkney, about 178'2, a dark powder fell from the atmosphere, which
was at the time generally ascribed (and probably correctly) to Hecla,
which was then in eruption. At the same meeting was read a notice
of two remarkable animals from the Firth of Forth, communicated by
Edward Forbes, Esq. In July 1839, Mr Forbes observed among crowds
of Medusae and Cydippes, congregated around the shores of the Isle of
May, two minute animals in considerable numbers, and .presenting
such anomalous characters (especially one of them) that their position
in the animal series became a matter of question. The first of these
animals, Mr Forbes at last referred to a new genus of molluscs, de-
scribed and figured in the voyage of the Astrolabe, under the name of
Briarea. This genus, however, is believed to be prOperly crustaceous
not molluscous. The new species was called B. truncata. The other
animal was so anomalous that no attempt was made to refer it to any
known family in the animal kingdom ; but as it is by no means rare,
future investigation may clear up the difficulty.

April S. — Professor Jameson, President, in the Chair.

Dr Robert Hamilton read a paper, entitled, Sketch of the Geology
of the Basin formed by the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. The author
remarked, that, as suggested by Mr Ainsworth, this interesting region,
including ancient Assyria, Mesopotamia, and Chaldea, may naturally
be divided into three distinct districts ; the 1st, of plutonic and meta-
morphic rocks; the 2d, of sedimentary formations; and the 3d, of alluvial
deposits. The first of these is marked by three somewhat parallel
mountain ranges, stretching in an east and westerly direction, namely,
the Niphates, the Agavah Dag, and ^the ancient Masius. The central
nucleus of these vast chains consists of granite, gneiss, and mica-slate,
with limestones, greenstones, and hornblende. The most northerly
range is probably the highest of the Taurus, towering above the line of
perpetual snow, which may be estimated at about 10,000 feet. The
more particular survey commenced in the central range, near the junc-
tion of the eastern and western branches of the Euphrates, at the town
of Kebban, where silver and lead mines are worked, which yield an-
nually about 1000 pounds of the former metal, and 195,000 of the
latter. An account was next given of the geology of the country in the
neighbourhood of the copper mines of Arghana, which was said to pro-
duce annually 2,250,000 pounds of this metal. The second district
was described as extending from 37° N. lat. to 34°, and laterally

Proceedings of the Wernerian Society. iOS

about 200 miles, from the confines of Syria to the mountains of
Kurdistan. The distinguishing geological peculiarity of this region is
the extraordinary development of the supercretaccous deposits, more
espceially the gypseous, divided into two portions, separated by a great
deposit of marine limestone ; the whole country, in fact, consisting of
these deposits, it has been calculated, to an extent of about 800 square
miles, here and there interrupted by plutonic rocks. The celebrated
sulphur mines near Mosul were noticed — the thermal springs — the
milk-white rivulet, from precipitated sulphur — the Mosul marble —
(calcareous gypsum) — also the *' Hill of Flames," east of Kirkook,
whence a fierce ardent flame from time immemorial has issued — and
the celebrated naphtha springs on the Euphrates and Tigris — the geo-
gnostical peculiarities of these localities being explained. The third or
alluvial district was next described, from the hills above the plain of
Babylonia, and the plains traversed by the Median Wall, to the shores
of the Persian Gulf. At its northern limit, the plain has a slight but
well defined southern inclination ', it undulates in the central districts,
and then lowers into mere marshes and lakes. The soil of the first
portion is pebbly, consisting of flints and fragments of gypsum, that of
the second clayey, covered with mould or sands. Here were noticed
the efflorescences of common salt and saltpetre — the sand-hills, which
are constantly shifting then* place and number, and yet are always sta-
tionary in the same general locality — the marches of Lemlum, and the
extensive plains of Chaldea on the east — the aquatic vegetation at the
point of union of the Euphrates and Tigris — from this point to the
Junub, a .d finally the water-country of Niebuhr, — the Choabedeh of
Sir William Jones. Even here the banks of the river are lined with
woods of the date-tree, and at times afford pasturage for buffaloes ; the
villages are numerous but small, and the population, as will be readily-
supposed, unhealthy.

The President exhibited a series of specimens of ores, and their
accompanying rocks and minerals, collected in Persia, by Mr Robert-
son, late in the service of the Shah. Among them were various rich
ores of copper and iron, very pure rock salt, brown coal, &c. Spe-
cimens of the following quadrupeds and birds were placed on the
table for the inspection of members ; — A very young hyena, lately
cubbed at Edinburgh ; a small Chili dog, nearly destitute of hair ; a re-
markable variety of the common hare from the Pentland range ; a male
wild cat from Perthshire, three feet eight inches in length ; specimens
of the rough-legged falcon and the osprcy from the Pentlands ; and a
specimen of the Picus nuijor from the neighbourhood of Inverness.

404 Proceedings of the JFernerian Society*

April 17. — Professor Jameson, P. in the chair.
There was read a communication by Mr William Brown, on the
nature of the currents of the atmosphere, and their influence on the va-
riations in the height of the barometer. Mr Goodsir communicated a
paper by Mr Henry Goodsir, surgeon, Anstruther, *^ on a new genus,
with descriptions of some new species, of Pycnogonidee." In this pa-
per seven new species were described, and specimens with drawings
were exhibited to the Society. Of the genus Orithyia, one new species
was described, 0. globosa ; of Nt/mpkon, four new species, N. Knoxiij
spmosurrij mimdumj and pellucidum; 0^ Pallene, one species, P.cir-
cularis. In the new genus Pephredo, one new species was described
P. capillata. These animals are natives of the Firth of Forth and Ger-
man Ocean. The paper concluded with some details regarding the struc-
ture of this order of Crustacea. — A paper by Messrs Goodsir and Forbes
was then read, in which the authors described two species of their new
genus Pelonaia, P. corrugata^ andglabra. (Published in the present num-
ber of this Journal, p. 29.) There M^as placed on the table a beauti-
ful geological model of Arthur Seat, exhibiting a section of the strata,
constructed by Robison Wright, Esq., and presented to the Society by
that gentleman.

May 1 . — Professor Jameson, P. in the chair. There was read a me-
moir of Dru Drury, the celebrated entomologist, and author of " Illus-
trations of Natural History,*' by the Rev. James Duncan. Many of
Drury MS. journals, memorandum -books, and volumes of correspond-
ence, were exhibited.

Mr Torrie afterwards exhibited and described an interesting series
of chalk and flint specimens, which had been collected by Mr James
Moore from quarries in hills near Belfast. These specimens were illus-
trative of the remarkable changes produced on chalk and its included
flints by.the action of trap-dykes. A notice on the subject, by Mr Moore,
was read, and a large section exhibited. Mr Torrie placed on the table
specimens illustrative of an analogous metamorphic action, caused by
the proximity of syenite to the lias limestone of the island of Skye.

( 405 )

Proceedings of the Society of Art s^ 1840-41.

The Annual General Meeting of the Society for Promoting
the Useful Arts in Scotland was held in the Royal Institu-
tion on Monday, the 9th November 1840. — Sir John Graham
Dalyell, President, in the chair.

Sir John, in opening this the Twentieth Session, congra-
tulated the Society on the numerous attendance. Members
should be grateful they had been spared by the benignity of
Providence, seeing that, in the interval of this long recess, so
many had been called away. The retirement of such a recess
enabled them to mature their reflections on what they had
seen, and to meditate on future projects for public utility.

The modern state of science admitted and encouraged in-
ventions and improvements which could not be contemplated
by our progenitors. But the Society must beware of receiv-
ing as novelties all that was offered as new. Sometimes ex-
pedients familiar of old were only reproduced under some
different name and character. Entire volumes of earlier date
might be quoted to prove the fact ; and here he should refer to
the works — " Pancirollus, rerum deperditarum noviter inven-
tarum'' — "Dutens, des decouvertes attribuees aux modernes,'*
besides those of Polydore Virgil and Beckmann. Who would
credit, that, from time immemorial, the inhabitants of some
distant regions carried on their nocturnal manufactures by
means of natural gas, obtained through a hollow reed thrust
into the earth I Arriving at modern times, navigation by the
Archimedes screw as a propeller, through the means of steam,
had attracted the Society's notice in 1840. But, above twenty
years ago, an experiment with similar screws, adapted to a
boat, on the neighbouring lake, Lochend, by Mr Whytock, a
member of the Society, proved its efficiency, though on a
smaller scale. Sir John proceeded to shew that sometimes
amidst very speculative views, the progress of science and the
arts in this country had advanced chiefly since the year 1700
or 1720, — that agriculture promoted certain branches of me-
chanics. An Agricultural Society had been estj\bli:>hed in

406 Froceedings of the Society of Arts,

1723 ; and a thrashing machine appeared in 1735. After a
considerable interval, the operation of a reaping machine was
exhibited by its inventor, Peter Williamson, in 1763, whose '
romantic history as a captive with the American Indians is
well known. It was curious to follow the progress of the arts,
and the obstacles opposing them, — from poverty and otherwise.
Earlier in the century, a public contribution was required to
purchase mathematical instruments for the University. Be-
tween 1750 and 1760 a great impetus was given to improve-
ment by the " Edinburgh Society for Encouragement of Arts,
Sciences, Manufactures, and Agriculture," which sometimes
offered 120 premiums annually. Individuals also lent their
aid. One year Sir Gilbert Elliot of Stobs contributed 100
guineas to promote the Society's objects. Many advantages
ensued ; inventions and improvements originated everywhere
progressively over Scotland. Among others, the principal
improvements of that powerful auxiliary, the steam-engine,
is due to this country. At length the institution of our " So-
ciety for Encouragement of the Useful Arts" has given more
systematic patronage to genius, — as evinced on former oc-
casions, and as would appear in the award of premiums which
it was that evening his pleasing duty, as President, to bestow
upon the successful candidates.

The following communications were made : —

1. An exposition of Electrotype was given by Andrew Fyfe, M. D.,
F. E. S. E. (744.)

The Society having resolved to give occasional experimental illustra-
tions of subjects occupying much of the public attention, at the request of
the President and Council Dr Fyfe undertook an exposition of Electro-
type. After making a few general observations on the nature of the sub-
stances employed in the process, he illustrated experimentally the action
by which metals may be deposited from a state of solution, and made to
assume the form of the object 09 which the deposit takes place. He after-
wards explained the different methods followed, and exhibited the appara-
tus by which this is effected, and by which the Electrotype process is now
generally conducted ; pointing out, at the same time, the circumstances to
be attended to so as to secure success.

A small medal, connected with the Electrotype apparatus, and exposed
in solution of blue vitriol, was shewn, and from it the metallic deposit was
removed, so as to afford the members an opportunity of judging of the ease
with which the process is conducted.

Proceedings cf the Society of Arts, ^07

Numerous specimens of Electrotype engraving, of casts from medals, and
from Paris-plaster moulds, were afterwards exhibited, for most of which
Dr Fyfe stated that he was indebted to Mr Palmer, Newgate Street, Lon-
don, and in whose name he begged to present the specimens to the Society.

This was the first of the Experimental Expositions given by the Socioty,
and, judging from the manner in which it was received, there is every rea-
son to believe that they may prove of great benefit to the members, by giv-
ing them an opportunity of becoming acquainted with subjects which it is
otherwise difficult to comprehend.

The thanks of the Society Averc voted to Dr Fyfe for his interesting ex-
position, and to Mr Palmer for his very handsome donation.

2. Donation — Astronomical Observations made at the Iloyal Observa-
tory, Edinburgh. By Thomas Henderson, Esq., F. R. S. E., &c. her Ma-
jesty's Astronomer for Scotland. Vol. III. for the year 1837. Edinburgh,

1840. Presented by the Author. (735.) Thanks voted.

3. Donation — Atti della prima lliunioni degli Scienziati Italiani, tcnu-
ta in Pisa, nell' Ottobre del 1839. Presented by Professor Philippe Cor-
ridi. General Secretary, by command of the Grand Duke of Tuscany,
(737.) Also, separately printed, an Alphabetical list of the members.
(738.) Thanks voted.

4. Donation — Premiums offered by the London Society for the encou-
ragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, for Sessions 1840-41 and
1841-42. Presented by that Society. (73 G.) Thanks voted.

5. The Report of the Prize Committee, awarding the Prizes for Session
1839-40, was read ; and the Prizes were delivered by the President to the
successful Candidates, with an appropriate address to each. The Report
is of the following tenor : —

Your Committee having met, and carefully considered the various Com-
munications laid before the Society during Session 1839-40, beg leave to
report that they have awarded the following Prizes : —

1. To John Scott Russell, A.M., F.R.S.E., Greenock,— for his " Notice
of a Polyphotal Lamp, and Reflector of Single Curvatm-e, for Steam- Ves-
sels, and other purposes." Read and exhibited 13th November 1839.
Printed in the Society's Transactions. — The Society's Honorary Silver
Medal. (071.)

2. To John Alston, Esq. of Rosemount, Honorary Treasurer to the Asy-
lum for the Blind, Glasgow, — for his " Map of England and Wiiles for the
use of the Blind," printed in Relief. Exhibited 29th January 1840. — The
Society's Honorary Silver Medal. (684.)

3. To Andrew Fyfe, M. D., F. R. S. E., Lecturer on Chemistry, Edin-
burgh,— for his two Papers containing an account of his experiments " On
the Comparative Illuminating and Heating power of different kinds of
Gas-Burners." Read Uth March and 13th May 1840. Printed in the
Society's Transactions.— The Society's Silver Medal, Value Fifteen Sove-
reigns. (694 & 707.)

4. To Edward Sang, Esq., civil engineer and actuary, Edinbuigli,— -fur

408 Proceedings of the Society of Arts,

liis Papers " On the Construction of Circular Signal Towers " — " On the
Effects of the Curvature of Riiilways" — and for his valuable *^ Essays on
Life Assurance." Read respectively on 15th April, and 27th May 1840
— and 18th December 1839 — 15th and 29th January, 12th February, and
11th March 1840. Printed in the Society's Transactions. — The Society's
Silver Medal, value Ton Sovereigns. (700, 723, & G76.)

5. To Mr John Gilchrist, 14 Middle Arthur Place, Edinburgh, — for his
" Model and Description of Improvements in connection with his Substi-
tute for Door Springs ; for Doors opening either "vvay, particularly for
Double Doors " — which, though opening freely when pulled or pushed by
the hand, have no tendency to open by the force of the wind. Read and
exhibited 29th April 18-10.— The Society's Silver Medal, value Eight Sove-
reigns. (713.)

6. To Mr John AVhite, pattern-drawer, 39 Clerk Street, Edinburgh, —
for his two communications, viz. : — " Outline of a plan for securing to the
Manufacturers of Scotland protection against Piracy of Patterns;" and
<^ Description and Drawing's of his new method of Manufacturing Persian
Rugs, by which a great saving in material and workmanship is effected."
Pioad and exhibited respectively on I3th November 1839, and 13th May
1840. — The Society's Silver Medal, value Eight Sovereigns. (669 & 718.)

7. To Mr Daniel Macpherson, 24 Salisbury Street, Edinburgh, — for his
'Description, Drawing, and Model of a new method for Shutting Doors
which open either way, without the use of Spring?:, and requiring no addi-
tional space beyond what is necessary for the Door itself." Read and
exhibited 27th May 1840.— The Society's Silver Medal, value Five Sove-
reigns. (726.)

Your Committee desire it to be understood that the models referred to
in Nos. 5 and 7 must be made to a scale, and to the satisfaction of the
Curator of the Museum. The special thanks of the Society are justly due
to all those gentlemen who have favoured it with communications, though
not competing for prizes. In conclusion, your Committee regret that they
have not been able to award the Keith Medal of Tv»^enty Sovereigns, nor
the Society's Gold Medal of same value, in consequence of there having
been no communications given in during this Session, which fall under the
terms of advertisement of these prizes. They also beg leave to remind the
Society, that, although the number of communications to which they have
attached honorary and pecuniary rewards is not so great as on some former
years, this arises, not on account of the communications in general being
less valuable, but because many of the most interesting of them were not
lodged in view to competition for prizes; and that while the general cha-
racter of the papers has been decidedly improving during the last ten years,
the past session has yielded to none in the interest it has excited both
amongst the members and the public in general, which is best testified by
the large increase of new members Avho have joined since last year.

6. The Models, Drawings, &c. of Inventions, &c. (Session 1839-40) for
which the Prizes have been awarded, were exhibited*

Proceedings of the Society ofjfrts. 409

PRIVATE BUSINESS.

I. The following Candidates were admitted as Ordinary
Members, viz. :— ■

I. H.D.Dickie, Esq. Manager Caledonian Firo and Life Assurance
Company. 2. Captain John Donaldson Boswcll, K. N. 3. James Thom-
son, Esq. civil engineer, Glasgow. 4. Charles Ransford, M.D., F.R.C.P.,
surgeon, Edinburgh. 5. John H. Hardyman, Esq. W. S.

II. On the motion of the Council the Society elected the fol-
lowing gentlemen as Honorary Members, viz. : —

1. W. A. Graham, Esq. Secretary to the Society for Encouragement of
Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, Adelphi, London. 2. Professor
Encke, Berlin. 3. Professor Jacobi, St Petersburgh. 4. General "Wilson,
ditto. 5. Sir John Rennie, C. E., London. C. James "Walker, Esq., C. E.,
Pros. Inst. Civ. Eng., ditto. 7. George Stephenson, Esq. C. E., Newcastle.
8. Cliarles Vignoles, Esq. C. E., London. 9. C. W. Williams, Esq. Liver-
pool, 10. Richard Roberts, Esq., of Sharpe, Roberts and Co., Manches-
ter. II. William Fairbairn, Esq., ditto. 12. Eaton Hodgkinson, Esq.,
ditto. 13. Robert Mallet, Esq., C. E., Dublin.

III. The Society elected the following gentlemen as Office-
Bearers and Councillors for Session 1840-41, viz. : —

The Queen, Patroness.
Andrew Fyfe, M. D., F. R. S. E., President,
James L'Amy, Esq. of Dunkenny, F. R. S. E. 1 yice-Presid^ntz,

LIEUT.-COLONEL ThOMAS BlANSHARD, R. E. J

James Tod, W. S., 21 Dublin Street, Secretary.
MuNGO Ponton, F. R. S. E., 30 Melville Street, Foreign Secretary,
John Scott MoNCRiEFF, Accountant, 4 Albyn Place, Treasurer.
John Dunn, 03 Hanover Street, Curator of Museum.

Ordinary Councillors.
Gilbert L. Finlay. Alex. Bry'son.

John Beatson Bell. Alex. Rose.

David Stevenson. William Crawfurd.

James Hunter, M. D. Charles Cowan.

Robert Maxton, James Hay.

C. H. Wilson. William Wood, F.R.C.S.

In quitting the President's chair, Sir J. G. Dalyell said,
he had witnessed the most flourishing era of the Society, not
only in the accession of new members, 135 having been enrolled
during the three years of his office, but in number, variety,
and interest of the subjects brought forward. These were
very different from those of earlier date above alluded to ; for
here were Mechanics in their various branches — Hydraulics,

4f^ Proceedings of the ^oe'iet^ of Arts.

Acoustics, Optics, Chemistry, besides some of national industry,
mental improvement, and the like. Although he deprecated
the too frequent change of management of such a Society, as
interrupting the regular course of great projects, it was essen-
tial to profit by the peculiar talents of different individuals.
He himself had ever endeavoured to promote the best interests
of the Society, as promoting public benefit, and he now retired
with the consciousness of having fulfilled his duty.

The thanks of the Society were unanimously voted to the
Ofiice-Bearers for the past Session, and in particular to Sir
John Graham Dalyell, the President, for his able and impartial
conduct in the chair.

23rf November 1840.— Andrew Fyfe., M. D., F. R. S. E.,
President, in the chair.

Before proceeding to the business of the evening, the
Society resolved, on the motion of the Secretary, to present
a loyal and dutiful address of congratulation to her Most Gra-
cious Majesty the Queen, on her Majesty's having given birth
to a Princess, and appointed a Committee to prepare and for-
ward the Address. The following communications were then
made : —

1. Observations on the state of the Arts in Italy; with a brief account
of Cameo-cutting, Mosaic-work, Pietra Dura_, and also of some of the do-
mestic Arts, and mechanical contrivances of the Italians. By Charles H.
Wilson, Esq., architect, A. E. S. A., M. S. A., Edinburgh. Illustrative
Drawings and Sjiecimens Avere exhibited. (754.) Thanks voted, and to
be printed in the Transactions.

2. Specimens of Pl.me Surfaces produced on Cast-Iron without grind-
ing, by Mr Joseijh Whitworth, engineer, Manchester, Hon. M. S. A. Com-
municated by Sir John Eobison, K. H., F. R. S. E., M. S. A. (756.)

Mr Sang remarked, that grinding, when properly executed, produces a
much more perfect plane. Thanks voted to Sir Jolm Eobison.

3. Description of the process of Daguerreotype, with Specimens and Dia-
grams demonstrating the action of light in that process, both in respect
to Landscape and Miniature Portraits. By Mr Thomas Davidson, optician,
12 Eoyal Exchange, Edinburgh. Communicated by Mungo Ponton, Esq.,
F.E.S.E., Foreign Secretary. (745.)

Mr Davidson described his improved apparatus, by which both Land-
scape and Miniature Portraits may be taken by merely reversing the lenses.
He also shewed his improved Camera, and his mode of polishing the plates,
which is done without oil. He explained the effect of light in that pro-

Troteedings of the Society of Arts. 411

cess, and stated, that, with the improved apparatus, much more perfect pic-
tures arc produced, and the colours more nearly approachin;^ to those in
nature. He stated, that, in France and Italy, from the greater brilliancy
of the light, much bettor pictures could be produced with his improved ap-
paratus, than those procured by Daguerre's process. Thank* voted, and to
be printed in the Transaction?.

4. Description of a Method of Photographic Printing, by Mr W. Fraser>
Aberdeen. Communicated by the Secretary. Specimens were exhibited.
(741.) Thanks voted.

5. Donation — Printed Reports (in duplicate) relative to Smith's Patent
Screw Propeller, as used on board the "Archimedes" Steam-vessel, &c.
By Captain Edward Chappell, R.N. London, 1840. Presented by Captain
Chappell. (740.) Thanks voted.

6. Donation — Specimens, with Description of the Seam of Black-band
Ironstone now being wrought on his property of Nether Carbellow, in tlie
parish of Auchinleck. Presented by John Robertson, Esq. of Duncanze-
mere, W. S. (743.) Thanks voted.

Richard Hunter jun., Esq., W. S., 1 Doune Terrace, was admitted an
ordinary member.

A Communication from the Experimental Committee was read, making
a donation of their funds to the Society for experimental purposes. Thanks
voted.

14M i)^cm5^r 1840.— Andrew Fyfe, M.D., F.R.S.E., Presi-
dent, in the chair. Before proceeding to the business of the
evening, the President stated that the address of congratulation
to her Majesty on the birth of the Princess Royal, agreed to
at last meeting, had been presented to the Queen by Lord
Normanby, and that he had received a letter from his Lord-
ship, stating that her Majesty had been pleased to receive the
same very graciously. The following communications were
made : —

i. On Trigonometrical Surveying and Levelling, and on tlie effects of a
supposed local attraction at the Calton Hill, Edinburgh, By William Gal-
braith, A.M., M. S. A., Teacher of Mathematics, Edinburgh. (742.)
Thanks voted, and ordered to be printed in the Transactions.

2. An account of the Plan of Telegraphing by Electro-Magnetism. By
William Alexander, Esq., F.R.S.E., M.S.A. A Model was exhibited in
operation, which excited much interest. (760.) Thanks voted. Remarks
were made by Messrs Ponton, Sang, Dunn, Bryson, and others. Some in-
teresting conversation also took place relative to the effect of a metallic
wire connecting two clocks, in producing isochronous vibrations in their
pendulums.

3. On the method of manufacturing Bricks in Persia, By James JRobert-

412 Proceedings of the Society of Arts,

son, Esq., civil and mining engineer, Edinburgh, late in the service of
the Shah of Persia. A Drawing was exhibited, illustrating the construc-
tion of the furnaces for burning the previously sun-dried bricks. Mr
Bobertson gave a very graphic detail of the process of manufacture — the
patient labour of the Persian brick-maker beneath a broiling sun — his ab-
stemious life — and the amount and value of his labours. (759.) Thanks
voted.

Mr Gavin Kay's Model and Description of Apparatus for saving the life
of persons falling into any loch or standing water, on the ice giving way,
were postponed, owing to the lateness of the hour.

Donations were presented (1.) of a piece of wood, announced by the
Donor as a piece of one of the Original Timbers of i\\Q fii-st Steam-boat
built at Carron about the year 1794 ; presented by Mr W. Grosart, Falkirk
(746.) ; in reference to which the subjoined letter from Sir John Robison
was read to the Society : —

" 14?^ December 1840.

"Dear Sir, — As an engagement will prevent me from being present at
the meeting this evening, I beg to call your attention to a mistake in one
of the announcements in the billet, which should not pass unnoticed, lest
it should be quoted and lead to error. It is in article 5th.

" There was no steam-boat built at Carron ' about 1794.'

"The first steam-boat was tried on Dalswinton Lake, in October 1788.

" The second was tried on the Forth and Clyde Canal, in November
1789 ; the machinery of this vessel was prepared at Carron.

'• The third was constructed and tried on the Forth and Clyde Canal
in 1801.

" The piece of wood presented to the Society is probably a part of this
latter vessel, which has remained about Grangemouth ever since the trials,
until about a year ago, when it was broken up and buried in some new
works lately constructed in the harbour there. Previous to its disappear-
ance, I requested Mr AVilson, the Canal Company's Superintendent, to
take out some portions of the timbers to be preserved as relics, and it is
probably from this source that the donation has been procured.

" This last-mentioned vessel is remarkable, from the circumstance that
it was during its preparation at Falkirk by Mr Symington, that Mr Fulton,
the American engineer, was brought by Mr Henry Bell to observe its pro-
gress, and that what he then saw led him to apply to Messrs Boulton and
"Watt to make the machinery which was used in the first American steam-
boat some years afterwards. I am, dear Sir, very truly yours,

" John EoBi SON."
" James Tod. Esq., W. S.,

Sec. Soc. of Arts."
(2.) Report on Plans for preventing Accidents on board of Steam-vessels
(arising from the bursting of the Boilers) ; with numerous Plates. Glas-
gow, 1839. Presented by the Trustees on the River Clyde. The Secre-
tary stated, that, in consequence of the number of disasters from the burst-

Proceedings of the Society of Art9* 413

ing of boilers on the Clyde, the trustees of that river had been led to offer
prizes for the best essay on the subject of their prevention. Ho believed
that the whole of the principal papers thus obtained, or at least abstracts
properly classified, were printed in the report now presented. (747.)
Thanks voted.

(3.) The " Inventors' Advocate," No. G3, London, 10th October 1840.
Presented by the publishers. (748.) Thanks voted.

The following gentlemen were elected Ordinary Members,
viz. —

1. Mr Peter Wright, linen-merchant, 19 Queen Street. 2. Mr Alex-
ander Keith Johnston, engraver, 7 Charlotte Street, 3. Mr Peter Ste-
venson, phil. inst. maker, 9 Lothian Street. 4. Lieut-Colonel Sir William
A. Maxwell, Bart, of Calderwood. 5. William Walker, Esq. surgeon,
47 Northumberland Street. 6. N. Maxwell, Esq. late Bengal Medical
Staff, U.S. Club, Edinburgh. 7. George Harvey, Esq. U.S.A., historical
painter, 15 Brunswick Street, Hillside. 8. Drysdale Carstairs, Esq. 23
Iloyal Terrace. 9. Mr C. H. J. Smith, landscape-gardener, 11 Elder
Street. 10. Andrew Dun, Esq. W. S., 30 London Street.

11th January 1841.— Andrew Fyfe, M.D., F.R.S.E., Pre-
sident, in the chair. The following communications were
made : —

1. Model and Description of Apparatus for saving the life of persons
falling into any loch or standing water, on the ice giving way. By Mr
Gavin Kay, 18 Preston Street, Newington, Edinburgh. (757.) Keferred
to a Committee.

An interesting discussion followed upon this subject, which was carried
on by Dr Glover, Mr Sang, Dr Maclagan, and others ; and on the motion
of Mr L'Amy, one of the vice-presidents, Dr Glover was requested to give,
in writing, his valuable practical observations, in order to their being
printed and published for the use of persons frequenting the ice.

2. Description of an Instrument for indicating the amount of inclined
disturbances during small Shocks of Earthquakes. By Alexander Rose,
Esq., Lecturer on Geology, &c. Edinburgh, M. S. A.

An acting model was exhibited. (767.) Thanks voted.

3. Description and Drawing of a simple but important improvement m
the Camera Obscura, in taking portraits and other objects. By Mr Tho-
mas Davidson, optician. Royal Exchange, Edinburgh.

The camera with its improvements was exhibited. (768.)

4. Description and Diagram of a Method of taking views by Reflection,
in the Daguerreotype, or in the common Camera Obscura. By Mr Thomas
Davidson, optician, Edinburgh. (770.)

A discussion followed the reading of these papers, in which Sir John
Robison, Dr Hunter, Messrs Sang, Bryson, and others, took part. After
VOL. XXXI. NO. LXII. — OCTOBER 1841. O d

414 Proceedings of the Society of Arts.

the thanks of the society were voted to Mr Davidson, these two papers
were referred to a committee.

5. Donation — Researches on Heat ; Fourth Series. On the effect of the
Mechanical Texture of Screens on the immediate transmission of Eadiant
Heat. By Professor Forbes, F. 11. SS. L. & E. Presented by the Author.
(750.) Thanks voted.

6. Donation — Account of additional Experiments on Terrestrial Magnet-
ism, made in different parts of Europe in 1836. By Professor Forbes.
Presented by the Author. (749.) Thanks voted.

7. Donation — A Tabular View of the Yearly quantity of Rain which
falls in different parts of Great Britain. By Joseph Atkinson, Esq.,
Harraby, near Carlisle. Presented by the Author. (755.) Thanks voted.

PRIVATE BUSINESS.

The following Candidates were admitted as' Ordinary Mem-
bers, viz. —

1. Charles F. Davidson, Esq. W.S., 9 Saxo Cobourg Place.

2. James Clapperton, Esq. 32 George Square.

3. James G. Cowan, Esq. merchant, 1 Hermitage Place, Lcith.

4. David Eankine, Esq. Manager Dalkeith Railway Company, St Leo-
mard's Hill.

5. Robert Stcuart, Esq. of Carfin, 18 Clyde Street.

6. James Cowan, M.D. surgeon_, R.N., G5 Castle Street.

2bth January 1841.— Andrew Fyfe, M. D., F.R.S.E., Presi-
dent, in the chair. ThefoUowingcommunications were made: — ■

1. An Experimental Exposition of the Doctrine of the Polarization of
Heat ; introductory to which an account of Instrumental Methods of as-
certaining minute variations of Temperature was this evening given by
Professor Forbes, Sec. R. S. E., M. S. A., in the course of which the Pro-
fessor exhibited one of the original thermometers invented and used by
the Florentine Academicians, and he brought down the account to the
metallic piles of Nobili and Melloni, in which, by the agency of electro-
magnetism, the minutest variations of temperature can now be appreciated
and measured ; and he stated the probability of arriving at still greater
nicety, by improvements on those instruments. He was happy to observe
that the Society had offered a premium on this subject. (769.)

The best thanks of the Society were unanimously voted to Professor
Forbes for this introductory account of the various thcrmometric instru-
ments ; which were given to him from the chair. The Professor intimated
his intention to give the Exposition of the Doctrine of the Polarization of
Heat at a future meeting.

2. Description of a Drawing of a Self-Inking Printing Press (Roller
Pressure), by which the whole process of Inking the T^T^s, Impression,

Proceedings of the Society of Arts. 415

Tympan, and Frisket, is performed by the same operation as rolling in
and rolling out the types in the common printing press. By Mr John
Napier, printers' lead-caster, 13 West Nicolson Sreet, Edinburgh. A
Working Model of the Press was exhibited. Referred to a Committee.
(761.)

3. Notice of the completion of the Printing of tlie Bible in Relief for
the use of the Blind. By John Alston, Esq. of Rosemount, Honorary
Treasurer to the Asylum for the Blind at Glasgow, Hon. M. S. A. (771.)
Thanks voted.

4. Donation — On the Strength and other Properties of Cast-Iron ob-
tained from the Hot and Cold Blast. By William Fairbaim, Esq. en-
gineer, Manchester, Hon. M.S. A. (London, 1838.) Presented by the Author.
(772.) Thanks voted.

5. Donation — Remarks on Canal Navigation, illustrative of the ad-
vantages of the Use of Steam as a Moving Power on Canals ; with an Ap-
pendix of Experiments, Plans, Descriptions, &c. (London, 1831.) By the
same. Presented by the Author. (773.) Thanks voted.

C. Donation — Experimental Researches on the Strength of Pillars of
Cast-Iron, and other materials. By Eaton Hodgkinson, Esq. Manchester.
Hon. M.S. A. (London, 1840.) Presented by the Author. (774.) Thanks
voted.

The following Candidates were admitted as Ordinary Mem-
bers, viz.: —

1. John Maitland, Esq. accountant, 27 Charlotte Square.

2. Robert Lindsay, Esq. chemist, 11 Elm Row.

3. James Lindsay, Esq. W.S., 39 London Street.

8Mi^^6nmryl841.— Andrew Fyfe,M.D.,F.R.S.E., President,
in the chair. The following communications were made, viz. : —

1. On the Evaporative Power of different kinds of Coal. By Andrew
Fyfe, M.D., President S. A. (775.)

During the reading of which paper, the chair v/as filled by James
L'Amy, Esq., Vice-President.

After some general observations on the opinions entertained regarding
the power of different inflammables for affording heat, Dr Fyfe alluded
more particularly to the experiments of Dcspretz, by which it is she\>Ti that
the heat evolved during combustion is in proportion to the quantity of oxy-
gen taken up, and from which it is inferred that 1 lb. of pure carbon will
boil off 12^ of water from temperature 32°, while hydrogen will boil oflf
37 lb. As these substances are the only inflammable ingredients in coal, we
have, according to Despretz, a method of finding the amount of heat which
a fuel will give out by combustion, provided we know the composition.
Dr F. then alluded to the different methods proposed for ascertaining these,
but at the same time stated, that as there is always a loss of heat in fur-

416 Proceedinga of the Society of Arts,

naco?, ns now constructed, tho only way of finding the practical evaporative
power was by consuming the fuel in properly constructed furnaces, and
ascertaining liow much water is boiled off. It was to this method he had
recourse in ascertaining the evaporative power of the fuel. The first series
of experiments was made with the view of trying the power of common
Scotch coal, and of Antliracito. From the numerous trials he had made,
he found that the practical evaporative power of Scotch coal was about 6,
compared to that of pure carbon as 12 ; or, deducting the cinders not con-
sumed, it amounted to 6.6. The evaporative power, as determined by the

^ quantity of oxygen necessary for its combustion, was 9.5, so that there was
a loss of nearly 29 per cent, of the heat evolved, supposing the combustion
complete. The composition of numerous specimens of Anthracite was
given ; some of them were shewn to contain no less than 94 per cent, of
pure carbon. That with which Dr F.'s trials were made had only 71.4 per
cent, of fixed carbon, 13 of volatile matter, and 10 of ash'es. It was there-
fore not of good quality. Its evaporative power, when tried in the furnace,
was very nearly 8, and, deducting the cinders, it amounted to 8.7. The
evaporative power, according to the quantity of oxygen necessary for its
combustion, Dr F, found to be 10.7, and accordingly the loss of heat
amounted to nearly 19 per cent. Dr F., however, shewed that, considering
the pressure at which the evaporation was conducted, the loss amounted
to only about 12 per cent.

The next series of experiments were made with the view of ascertaining
the comparative power of common Scotch coal, and English caking coal : —
from numerous trials, he found it to be in the raiio of 3 to 4, or very nearly
so. On reviewing the result of the experiment, Dr F. alluded to the great
practical evaporative power of Anthracite over other kinds of coal, which,
though they contain much volatile matter, the hydrogen of which gives
out much heat during its combustion, yet do not evaporate nearly so much
■water — indeed, he found the evaporative power to be according to the fixed
carbon ; that coal which contained most giving out tho most heat, which
he accounted for by the volatilization of the gaseous elements, which must
absorb heat when expell-od from the coals, and which heat can only be re-
placed by their undergoing combustion. From his numerous trials, Dr F.
Avas inclined to suppose that the practical evaporative power of a fuel would
be found to be as the fixed carbon in each, which evaporates 12.3 times its
own weight of water. In his trials, the Scotch coal evaporated G.66, the
Anthracite he used, 8.73, — of another Anthracite, it was 10.54. The
quantity that ought to have been eva]porated by the fixed carbon in these
coals (which was as 50.5, 71-4, and 92.4), was 6.2, 8.7, and 10.3 ; — ^num-
bers so nearly approximating to those in the above practical results, as to
induce him to believe that he was correct in the opinion he had advanced ;
and hence the superiority of Anthracite over other coals, when consumed
in furnaces as commonly constructed.

Thanks voted to Dr Fyfe for this elaborate communication, and it was

o*' derodto be printed in the Society's Transactions.

Proceedings of the Society of Arte, 417

2. On an erroneous deduction drawn by the late Captain Henry Katcr
from his Experiments on the Flexure of Thin Bars. By Edward Sang,
Esq., actuary, Edinburgh, M.S.A. (777.)

Various other communications were postponed on account of the lateness
of the hour.

3. Donation — A Selection of Sacred Poetry, &c., with Specimens of
Music in Relief, used in tcacliing the Blind at the Asylum at Glasgow.
Presented by John Alston, Esq. of Rosemount, Hon. M.S.A. (751.)

4. Donation — The History of the Bible epitomized, with Chronological
Index to the Bible, embossed for tlic use of the Blind. Presented by the
same. (752.)

6. Donation — The Catechism of the Church of England, printed in Relief
for the use of the Blind. Presented by the same. (753.)
Thanks voted to Mr Alston for these three Donations.

The following Candidates were admitted as Ordinary Mem-
bers, viz. : —

1. Mr John Skirving, punch-cutter, 9 Montagu Street.

2. James M'Innes, Esq., S.S.C., George Square.

3. William Napier, Esq., W.S., 15 East Claremont Street.

4. William Fleming, Esq., banker, 3 East Claremont Street.

5. Mr Thomas Dayid'son, optician, 12 Royal Exchange.

22(1 February/ lMl.^k\\diVQ\Y Fyfe, M.D., F.R.S.E., Presi-
dent, in the chair. The following communications were made : —

1. At the request of the President and Council, an Experimental Ex-
position of the Doctrine of the Polarization of Heat, was given by Profes-
sor Forbes, Sec. R.S.E., M.S.A. It was moved that the special thanks of
the Society be given to Professor Forbes, for his veiy interesting and clear
exposition ; which were given from the chair. (769.)

2. Notice of a New Railway Signal Light. By Alan Stevenson, LL.B.
civil engineer. (780.) Thanks voted, and to be printed in the Trans-
actions.

3. Description and Drawing of an Improved Common Lamp, in which
the shadow is greatly diminished, and better light obtained, and at less
expense of wick. By Mr John Napier, 13 West Nicolson Street, Edin-
burgh. The lamp was exhibited. (7G2,) Referred to a committee.

4. The Report of the Committee on Mr Napier's Sctf-inking Printing
Press was read and approved of. (761.)

5. Donation — An Experimental Inquiry into the Strength and other ,
properties of Anthracite Cast-Iron. By William Fairbaim, Esq. engineer,
Manchester, Hon. M.S.A. (1840.) Presented by the author. (781,)
Thanks voted.

The following Candidates were admitted as Ordinary Mem-
bers, viz. : —

418 Proceedings of the Society of Arts »

1. Charles Cameron, Esq. Mount Vernon, Libberton.

2. John Watson, Esq. (of Edinburgh Life Assurance) 11 Salisbury
Street.

3. Charles W. Anderson, Esq. merchant, 13 Annandalc Street.

4. Alexander Low, Esq. accountant, 11 Albyn Place.

%th March 1841.— Andrew Fyfe, M.D., F.R.S.E., President,
in the chair. The following communications were made : —

1. Notice regarding a cheap and easily used Camera Lucida, applicable
to the delineation of Flowers and other small objects. By Sir John Ro-
bison, K.H., F.R.S.E., M.S.A.

The instrument was exhibited. (783.)

A piece of Plate Glass is made to stand in a vertical position by means
of a support. It rests on a table covered Avith white paper, and the ob-
ject is placed on the paper on one side of the glass. On looking down
from that side of the glass diagonally, an image of the object is seen on the
paper on the other side, and a drawing of it can be readily taken.

Thanks voted, and Sir John was requested to give a short account of the
instrument in writing, to be jjrinted.

2. On the Building Materials of the United States of North America.
By David Stevenson, Esq., civil-engineer, Edinburgh, M.S.A.

Specimens of the Wood and Marble of that country were exhibited and
presented to the Society. (787.)

Thanks voted, and an abstract to be printed in the Transactions.

3. Notice and Analysis of the Nodus Rosi, a Phenomenon produced by
some pieces of Calcareous Spar brought from Iceland by Mr Rose, and
first observed by Mr Nicol. By Edward Sang, Esq. actuary, Edinburgh,
M.S.A.

Specimens producing this beautiful appearance were exhibited. (784.)
Thanks voted, and an abstract to be printed in the Transactions.

4. Description, with a Drawing, of the method of Burning Lime in
Persia. By James Robertson, Esq. civil and mining engineer, 4 York
Place, Edinburgh. (76G.) Thanks voted.

5. The Secretary, at the request of Mr Ritchie, Ironmonger, High Street,
exhibited Bickford, Smith, and Davey's Patent Safety Fuse, for Blasting
Rocks and other Mining Operations. It burns, when tamped, at the rate
of a foot and a l^alf per minute, and gives fire with great certainty. It is
sold at a moderate price, and in various lengths from 24 feet upwards, and
saves much powder in blasting. There is a kind of it made for blasting
under water, or in wet ground. Mr D. Stevenson, civil engineer, stated
that he had used it successfully in blasting rock five feet under water.
(792.)

6. Donation — Printed account of the nature and properties of Ronnie's
Patent Trapezium Paddle- Wheels ; Avith a plate. Presented by George
Rennie, Esq. civil eugineer, Whitehall Place, Westminster. (785.)
Thanks voted.

Proceedings of (he Society of Arts, lift

PRIVATE BUSINESS.

The following Candidate was admitted an Ordinary Mem-
ber, viz. : — .

George Simson, Esq. R.S.A, artist, 54 North Frederick Street,

22cl March 1841.— Andrew Fyfe, M.D., F.R.S.E., President,
in the chair. The following communications were made : —

1 . Remarks on tlie manner of procuring Peat Fuel in the Highlands of
Scotland, with Illustrations of an Improved Method founded on practical
experience ; with a drawing. By Mr John Sherar, Edinburgh. Com-
municated by David Stevenson, Esq. C.E., M.S.A. (758.) Thanks voted.

2. On a convenient arrangement in Orthographic Projection, with Dia-
grams. By Mr John Sang, land-surveyor, Kirkaldy, M.S.A. (776.)
-Thanks voted. Abstract to be printed.

- 3. Description and Drawing of a Method of Navigating Canals by means
of Steam-Boats and a Rail. By Mr James Clark, 73 John Street, Glas-
gow. (778.) Thanks voted.

4. Donation — Model of a Suspension Bridge, shewing the best position
for the Stays to prevent the destructive effect of Oscillation, according to
the principles laid down by Mr Scott Russell, in the Transactions of the
Society, vol. i. p. 313. Presented by James Tod, Esq. W. S., Secretary.
(790.) Thanks voted.

6. Donation — The Civil-Eng'neer and Architect's Journal, Scientific
and Railway Gazette, for February 1841. Presented by the Proprietor,
57 King Street, Westminster. (789.) Thanks voted.

\2th April lUl.—kndiYQ^ Fyfe, M. D., F.R.S.E., Pre-
sident, in the chair. The following communications were
made : —

1. Description of a Lamp for the use of Divers, and others under Water.
By W. II. Thomthwaite, 3 James's Place, Hoxton, London. The Lamp
^>as exhibited. (78G.) Referred to a committee.

2. On the proper form for a Pendulum of Verification. By Edward Sang.
Esq. actuary, Edinburgh, M. S. A. (782.) Thanks voted, and to be print-
ed in the Transactions.

3. Description of a Drawing of a Machine by which Ships of heavy
burden may be enabled to enter shallow Harbours, Rivers, &c. By Mr
John Napier, 13 West Nicolson Street. (763.) Referred to a Committee.

4. Description of a Drawing of a Portable Oven for placing ou a com-
mon fire, and answering all the purposes of a Fixed Oven. By the same.
The Oven was exhibited. (765.) Referred to a committee.

5. Donation— On the Constitution of the Resins, Parts IV. and V. By
James W. F. Johnston, M. A„ F, B. S., Professor of Chemistry in the Uni-

420 Proceedings of the Society of Arts,

versity of Durham, (London, 1840.) Presented by the Author. (791.)
Thanks voted.

I. The following Candidates were admitted as Ordinary
Members, viz. : —

1. John Ainslie, Esq. of Huntington, 54 Queen Street.

2, John Marshall, Esq. advocate, Fettes Kow.

II. The Members received the printed Annual Abstract of
the Receipt and Expenditure of the Society, and of the Funds
under its management, for the Session 1839-40.

III. A remit was made to the Council to consider and re-
port upon the propriety of the Society applying for a Royal
Charter of Incorporation.

IV. In terms of Law XX. the List of Prizes for Session
1841-2, as prepared by the Council, was submitted to the So-
ciety and approved of.

31*^ May 1841.-— Andrew Fyfe, M. D., F. R. S. E., Pre-
sident, in the chair. The following communications were
made : —

1. On some erroneous statements lately made in a paper read before
the Royal Irish Academy by Dr Robinson of Armagh, regarding the Re-
flecting Telescopes made by the late James Short and Sir "William Her-
schell. By Mr Thomas Davidson, optician, Edinburgh, M.S. A. Thanks
voted, and to be printed. (800.)

2. On an Improved Method of Illumination, by a diiFerent arrangement
of the Lenses, for the Oxy hydrogen Microscope and Magic Lantern. By
the same. Thanks voted. Mr Davidson promised a further communica-
tion on the subject next session. (801.)

3. Description, with Drawings, of a Life -Preserver, for the safety of
persons immersed in water beyond their depth, and who either cannot
swim or may be disabled. By Mr John Whyte, 39 Clerk Street, Edin-
burgh, M. S. A. Models were exhibited. Referred to a committee. (795.)

4. Description and Drawing of a Self-shutting Nose-cock. By Mr
George Hay, 166 Fountainbridge, Edinburgh. The Nose-cock was exhi-
bited. (798.) Thanks voted.

5. Model and Description of a Portable Family Fire-Escape. By Mr
John Baillie, 28 Cumberland Street, Edinburgh. (739.) Thanks voted.

The following Reports of Committees were read and ap-
proved of, viz. : —

6. On Mr Gavin Kay's Boat and Apparatus for saving persons immersed
in water by the breaking of ice. (Second Report.) Mr Crawford, Con-
vener. (757.)

Proceedings of the Society of Arts, 421

7. On Mr Napier's Portable Oven, Mr Hunter, Convener. (765.)

8. On Mr Napier's Machine or Camel for raising ships in the water, to
enable them to pass over shallows. Mr David Stevenson, Convener. (763.)

9. Donation — The Transactions of the Society for the Encouragement
of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, Adelphi, London : from its com-
mencement, excepting vols. iv. and xxv. Presented by the London Society
of Arts. (703.) Thanks voted.

10. Donation — Supplementary Report on Meteorology made to the Bri-
tish Association in 1840. By James D. Forbes, Esq., F.R.S., Sec. R.S.E.
(London 1841.) Presented by the Author, (707.) Thanks voted.

11. Donation — Introduction to the Science of Astronomy. By W. & R.
Chambers. Embossed, by permission, for the use of the blind, with Dia-
grams. By John Alston, Esq., of Rosemount, lion. M.S.A. (1841.) Pre-
sented by Mr Alston. (804.) Thanks voted.

2. Donation — A Time-piece of Parisian Manufacture, which belonged
to the late Mr James Cowan, watchmaker, Edinburgh, made for him
while he resided in Paris in 1749, and which, on his death in 1781, be-
came the property of Mr Tliomas Reid, watchmaker, Edinburgh, his suc-
cessor. Presented by AVm. Auld, Esq., 67 Great King Street, Edinburgh,
(807.) Thanks voted.

13. Donation — The Art of Daguerreotyping, with the Improvements of
the Process and Camera. By Mr Thomas Davidson, optician, Edinburgh,
M.S.A. Presented by Mr Davidson. (794.) Thanks voted.

I. The following candidates were balloted for and admitted
as Ordinary Members, viz. : —

1. J. Ewart Walker, M.D., 1 Lower Gray Street.

2. P. Nimmo, Esq., 14 Stafford Street.

II. The Council reported on the subject of a Charter of In-
corporation, recommending that it be applied for; and the
draft of one proposed by them was read and approved of ge-
nerally ; and a Committee was appointed to revise it and report.

hth July 1841. — Andrew Fyfe, M. D., President, in the
chair. On which occasion Field-Marshall His Royal High-
ness Prince Albert, K G., was unanimously elected an Hon-
orary Member. The following communications were made : —

1. Sir John Robison, K.II. exhibited —

1. Specimen of Maps for the Blind, printed in France.

2. Plan of London in Relief (about to bo published by Ackcrmann).

3. Specimen of Printing in Metallic Colours (from Cologne).

4. Small Casts and a Hollow Mould in Hard Cement, by Ilypolito

Vincent, of Paris.

5. An Opera-Glass of a good and cheap construction from Paris. (816.)

4122 Proceedings of the Society of Arts.

Sir John presented to the Society the Map of France for the Blind.
Thanks voted, and given from the Chair.

2. Specimens of Lithography. By Messrs Allan and Ferguson, litho-
graphers, Glasgow. (810.) Referred to a committee.

\\. Specimens of Lithography. By Messrs Maclure and Macdonald,
lithographers, Glasgow. (811.) Referred to a committee.

4. Specimens of four different styles of Window Blinds, made of Pierced
Zinc and Painted. By Mr Marc La Riviere, London. Communicated by
Mr David Watt, seal-engraver, North Bridge, Edinburgh. (850.) Thanks
voted.

5. Specimens of Perforated Metals for various purposes (one of them
containing 2500 holes in the square inch). By the same. (806.) Thanks
voted.

6. Specimens of four different Colours — Scotch Ultramarine, Canary
Yellow, Chrome Yellow, and Ness Lake — manufactured by Mr Murdoch
Paterson, dyer, Inverness. (803.) Referred to a committee.

7. Description of a Contrivance for Shutting Doors opening either way.
By Mr Daniel Macpherson, 24 Salisbury Street, Edinburgh. A Working
Model was exhibited. (796.) Referred to a committee.

8. Description and Drawings of a Clock Alarum. By Mr John Napier,
13 West Nicolson Street. (764.) Referred to a committee.

9. Specimens of Widening Brooches, Screw Taps, Files, &c., tempered
in a peculiar manner, so as to leave the centre soft, while the surface to
any required depth is as hard as possible. By Mr Dougald Ferguson,
smith, St Enoch's Wynd, Glasgow. (618.) Referred to a committee.

The following Reports of Committees were read and ap-
proved of viz. : —

10. On Mr Thornthwaite's Lamp for Divers. Mr Sang, convener. (786.)

11. On Mr Whyte's Life-Preserver. Mr Craufurd, convener. (795.)

The following Donations were received viz. : —

12. Two Specimens of Weaving in Silk, in imitation of Engravings,
from the Imperial Works at Alexandroski, near St Petersburg.

1. A Portrait of his Imperial Majesty the Emperor Nicolas.

2. A Landscape.

Presented by Lieutenant- General Alexander Wilson, I.R.S., Hon.
M.S.A. ; through Dr D. B. Reid, M.S.A. (788.)

13. The l7th Annual Report of the Manchester Mechanics' Institution,
1841. Presented by the Directors. (802.)

14. The Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal, Nos. 42, 43, and 44.
Presented by the Proprietor. (808, 809, and 812.)

15. Discourse on the Objects, &c. of the National Institution for the
Promotion of Science, established at Washington 1840. By the Hon.
Joel R. Poinsett, Secretary of War, and a Director of the Institution.
Presented by the Institution. (813.)

PtoceedingB of the Society of ArtB. ^Sl

16. Constitution and By-laws of the said Institution ; with a Letter from
the Secretary, dated 1st February 1U41. Presented by ditto. (814.)

17. Lectures on Agricultural Chemistry and Geology, Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4
By James F. W. Johnston, M.A., F.R.SS.L. & E., Durham. Presented
by the Author. (815.)

18. Two Specimens of Tenons, cut by his new Tenoning Machine. Pre-
sented by Mr John Kirkwood, jun. wright, Glasgow. (817.)

Thanks were voted for those Donations.

I. In terms of Law XX. the Society appointed a Commit-
tee of twelve ordinary members, as a Prize Committee, for the
purpose of awarding the prizes for communications made during
the current Session. Their Report to be given in to the Se-
cretary on or before the 1st October next, in order that the
necessary arrangements may be made for the distribution of
the Prizes at the first ordinary meeting of next session, being
Monday 8th November next.

II. The Draft of the proposed Charter of Incorporation,
read and approved of generally at last meeting, and remitted
to a Committee, was again considered, and finally approved
of and adopted, and remitted to the Council to take steps for
obtaining the Charter.

IList of Prizes for Session 1841—42.
The Society of Arts for Scotland proposes to award Hono-
rary Medals, and Prizes of the Value of Thirty Sovereigns,
and under, for approved Communications of — •
Experiments applicable to the Useful Arts.
Inventions, Processes, or Practices from Foreign Countries.
Public or other undertakings of National importance, — not pre-
viously published.
Methods of EconomisingFuel, Gas,&c. — of preventing Noxious
Vapours from Manufactories, — of procuring small, intense,
and constant sources of Heat.
Improvements in Instruments for Measuring minute quanti-
ties of Heat, — in the Hardening of Iron, and Tempering of
Steel, — in Photography, Daguerreotype, and Electrotype, —
in Pavements of Streets, — in Balance or Pendulum Time-
keepers,— in Taps and Dies, — in Flint Glass for Optical
purposes, — in the Machinery of Land and Marino Steam-
Engines, and in Steam -Carriages, — in Porcelain, — Type-
founding, &c.

42 1: Proceedings of the Society of Arts.

In addition to the above, the attention of Candidates is directed
to Inventions, Discoveries, and Improvements \xi\hQ Mechanical and
Chemical Arts in general, and also to means by which the Natural
Productions of the Country may be made more available.

The Society will also award the Keith Medal, value Twenty
SovereignSy for any important Invention, Discovery, or Improve-
ment in the Useful Arts.

General Observations. — All Communications shall be entitled to
compete for the Keith Medal which comply with the terms of the
announcement of that Prize, although falling under any of the above
specified subjects.

The descriptions of the various inventions to be full and distinct,
and, when necessary, accompanied by Specimens, Drawings, or Mo-
dels.

The Society shall be at liberty to publish in their Transactions
copies or abstracts of all papers submitted to them. All Models,
Drawings, &c. for which Prizes shall be given, shall be held to bo
the property of the Society, — the Society being in the practice of
taking the value of the Model into account in fixing the amount of
the Prize, — and these and all others which shall be approved of,
shall be entitled to a place in the Museum.

All Communications must bo written on jPoo?6'cap "paper, leaving
margins at least one inch broad, on both the outer and inner sides of
the page, so as to allow of their being afterwards bound up with
others ; and all Drawings must be on Imperial Drawing Paper, un-
less a larger sheet be requisite.

All Communications to be lodged as soon after \st Novcmhcr
1841 as possible, in order to ensure their being read during the Ses-
sion ; but those which cannot be lodged so early will be received till
\ St March 1842.

Communications, Models, &c. to be addressed to James Tod,
Esq. the Secretary, at the Museum of the Society of Arts,
63 Hanover Street, Edinburgh, Postage or Carriage paid.

Royal Institution, Edinburgh,
Uth April 1841.

( 425 )

SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE.

METEOROLOGY.

1. Falling Stars. — The following letter of Sir John Herschel to the
Editor of the Athenceum on the periods of the falling stars will in-
terest our readers : —

Sir, — The bright moonlight of the 9th inst, having prevented my ob-
taining satisfactory observations of the meteors, to whose periodical re-
turn on the 9th and lOtli of this month Prof. Quetelet has drawn much
attention, as being more regular than the display of the 12th and 13th
November, allow me, in place of observations for the current year, to offer,
as my contribution to our stock of knowledge of the subject, the follow-
ing incidental mention of such an occurrence, which occurs in Sir W.
Hamilton's account of the great eruption of Vesuvius in August 1779,
printed in the Transactions of the Royal Society, vol. 70, which will be
read with the more interest, the periodical nature of the phenomena be-
ing then unknown, and its occurrence being ascribed by him to some
local electrical agency, developed by the volcanic ejections.

'' August 9. 1799," after describing the phenomena of the eruption
during the day till seven o'clock at night, " when all was calm," Sir Wil-
liam Hamilton goes on to say, " it was universally remarked, that the
air this night, for many hours after the eruption, was filled with meteors,
such as are vulgarly called falling stars. They shot generally in a hori-
zontal direction, leaving a luminous train behind them, but which quickly
disappeared. The night was remarkably fine, starlight, and without a
cloud. This kind of electrical fire seemed to be harmless and never to reach
the ground, whereas that with which the black volcanic cloud of last night
was pregnant, appeared mischievous, like that which attends a severe
thunder-storm." The meteors of August 9. 1840, in so far as I observed
them, radiated almost without exception from a point in the heavens
very near the star y (Gamma), in the constellation Perseus, which is al-
most coincident with the point (near the star /3 Camelopardali) from which
I observed them to emanate on the 10th August 1839. Facts of this
nature appear most decisive in favour of the opinion, that a zone or zones
of these bodies revolve about the sun, and are intersected by the earth
in its annual revolution.

(Signed) J. F. W. Hkrschkl.

COLLINOWOOD, Aug. 15. 1831.

GEOLOGY.

2. Galvanism and Polarity as connected with the origin of the
structure of rocks. — Whenever we meet with rocks admitting of the
preservation of organic remains, the number of these decreases as we
descend in the series, till we arrive at a period when the physical

426 Scientific Intelligence — Geology.

monuments of the globe bear no trace of organized beings, an abyss
which gives no record of life, and sets a bound to our zoological in-
quiries. But the researches of the geologist do not rest here ; it still
remains for him to investigate changes connected with great moving
forces, with galvanism, and with polarity, manifested in cleavage, and
joints, and all the other problems connected with the primary rocks;
and these inquiries, it is believed, would in future form one of the
most iinportant parts of geological investigation. — Sedgwick.

3. Artesian Wells. — Prof. Sedgwick, at the Plymouth meeting of
the British Association, after reviewing the general principle of Ar-
tesian Wells, described two districts in which these operations were
attended with very different results. In the eastern part of Essex
the chalk is covered by sandy beds of the plastic clay, and these by
several hundred feet of impervious strata of Londori clay, all dipping
together towards the east. The arenaceous beds below the London
clay rise higher towards the chalk than the clay does, and absorb a
considerable part of the water from the high grounds. By boring
through the clays to this sand, springs of water immediately rise above
the surface, and are carried off by natural channels. By this supply
of water the value of the land has been materially increased, since
the country, though abounding in peat bogs, and stagnant ponds dur-
inor winter, suffers much from the summer drouojht. The other at-
tempts to form Artesian wells, referred to by Mr Sedgwick, were
made near Lincoln, which, though surrounded by fens, covered with
water in the winter, is not sufficiently supplied during the summer.
But the clays supporting the fens of the Bedford level are below the
chalk, and though there are pervious beds beneath them, which rise
to the north-west, yet the clays are of such enormous thickness that
they have never been penetrated ; and even were that accomplished,
the high land is so distant that intervening fissures, filled up with
impervious materials, might intercept the supply. Expensive sink-
ings have been made at Lynn, and also at Boston ; and, after boring-
through many hundred feet of clay, they have utterly failed ; and in
any future operations in this district, the chance of success would bo
very remote.

4. M. dOmalius on the Mineral Beds of Condros M. d'Omalius

d'Halloy communicated to the Brussels Academy of Sciences a notice
concerning the relative bearing and origin of the deposits of the
clay, the sand and the jplitanite of Condros, a country situated
between the Meuse, Lesse, and Ourte rivers. These deposits may,
according to the terms employed in geology, be considered as consist-
ing of beds, masses, and veins. M. d'Omalius, however, considers
that tliey have all the same origin. The raineralogical resemblance

Scientific Intelligence — Geology. ^ 427

of the clays and sands to tlio plastic clay of Paris, has caused them
to be considered as tertiary ; but their intimate alliance to metallic
substances, and the circumstance that none of the tertiary fossils have
hitherto been found either in the district of Condros, or in the other
elevated localities of the massive anthracite (du massif anthraxifere)
are, in the apprehension of M. d'Omalius, so many reasons which in-
cline him to separate them entirely from the tertiary series of rocks.
According to him, these sands, clays, and mineral ores have followed
hard upon the formation of the coal measures, and have come to light
during their contortion (sent arrives au jour lors du plissement). As
to their mode of formation, M. d'Omalius believes, that if, instead of
deriving these sands and clays from superficial waters, we were to
suppose they proceeded from the interior, like metallic veins, and as
M. d'Alberti supposes with respect to triasic sands and sandstones
(les gres et les sables triasiques) their position would bo explained
with the greatest facility. The volatilisation of silica does not ap-
pear to him of more difficult supposition than that of magnesia, which
is admitted by many geologists. Accordingly, he remarks, it may
easily be conceived that if siliceous gas traversed masses of waters,
it might produce chemical reactions which would precipitate silex,
either in a pure state, or in that of silicates of alumina, or, to put it in
other terms, which might produce sands and clays, in the same way
as the waters of certain existing fountains precipitate carbonized lime,
because the carbonic acid which held this salt in solution is precipi-
tated when the water comes to the surface.

M. d'Omalius designates by the term phtanite the whole of that
substance which the inhabitants of the Condros district call clavia,
although it is only a portion of these matters which belong to that
modification of quartz to which Ilaiiy has given the appellation of
phtanitey and though they present numerous varieties, in passing from
phtanite to grey jasper, to red jasper, to hornstone, millstone, flint,
(pyromaque), quartz, sandstone psammite, loam (Hmonite), to red
iron-ore, schist, ampelite, &c. The relations of the phtanites with
the minerals of iron, also with the clays and sands, induce M. d'Oma-
lius to think that they have the same origin, to this extent at least,
that they proceed alike from internal emanations ; but their state of
cohesion leads to the belief that they are not the result of instantane-
ous precipitations, which are supposed to occur in the case of clays
and sands, but that they must, on the contrary, proceed from mole-
cules which preserve their state of solution till they arrive at the sur-
face, and then unite after the common laws of affinity. — L'Institut,
No. 397.

5. QeognosUc Pogition of the i>ia«K>«d— Tho Brussels Academy

428 -^ ScientiJIe Jntelligence-^Geohgy.

of Sciences has received from M. Claussen, a geologist wlio lias re-
sided for twenty years in the Minas Geraes of Brazil, many geolo-
gical notices of the province. We shall now dwell only upon the one
bearing upon the true mineralogical habitat of the diamond. Towards
the beginning of the year 1839, diamonds were discovered in the
psammite sandstone (le gres psammite) of the Serro do Santo Antonio
de Grammagoa. This mountain is composed of great beds of sand-
stone (gr^s) which have a perfect resemblance to itacolumite ;* but
their highly inclined beds, reposing immediately upon Macigno, a
rock of the transition series, leaves no room for doubt as to their
identity with the psammetic sandstones of Abaite (Abaethe). Those
who made the discovery procured a great number of diamonds, be-
cause the rock was very soft ; but, as they went deeper, it became
harder, and consequently more difficult to work. The immensenum-
ber of individuals, who were attracted from all quarters, to the num-
ber of upwards of two thousand, and who laboured without either
order or place, caused a portion of the mountain to crumble away
before them, the debris of which still yields a profit by the extracting
of diamonds after pounding. Specimens of the rock, with imbedded
diamonds, are by no means rare ; although the miners nevertheless de-
mand a high price for them, because by completely pounding them,
they hope to find those large diamonds with which their imagination
fills them. Matters are only made worse, if the purchaser be a
stranger, for then they argue that he must know what the specimens
contain, and cannot conceive how any one should offer a large sum
of money from mere curiosity. The diamonds are found imbedded
in the psammite sandstone ; in the itacolumite sandstone they are
sometimes discovered between the plates of talc, very much as gar-
nets are in mica-slate. In the museum of Rio Janeiro, there is a
roundish diamond of very considerable size, which very distinctly re-
tains the marks of grains of sand imprinted upon it.

Among the specimens which M. Claussen has seen, there is rather
a remarkable one in the possession of M. Mallard, a French gentle-
man settled at Ouro Preto ; it is a small piece of pseudomorphosed
sandstone, having very much the aspect of itacolumite, about two
inches long and one broad, and contains a diamond weighing about
two grains, and crystallized in the shape of a roundish octahedron.
The owner demands L.125 for this specimen ! Another remark-
able specimen belongs to a Brazilian merchant of Rio Janeiro : it is
a piece of yellowish sandstone, about the size of the fist ; It contains

* The itacolumite is a granular slaty compound of quartz and talc : The so-
called flexible sandstone of Br^U is a vwiety of itacolumite. — Edjt»

Scientific Intelligence — Geology, 429

two diamonds, one of which weighs nearly a carat, and the other a
grain : both are crystallized in the form of perfect primitive octahe-
drons. M. Claussen was assured that all the diamonds which are
found in the itacolumite sandstone have rounded angles and edges,
whilst, on the contrary, those which are found in the psammite sand-
stone are perfect crystals. Were this fact verified, and found to bo
constant, we must needs suppose that the same cause which has changed
the sandstone into itacolumite has also operated upon the diamonds.

The diamonds are never found enveloped in an earthy crust as
some authors have described. Their surface is sometimes rough, but
generally smooth. The diamond may very easily be recognised by
putting it in water, where it retains all its brilliancy, having the
appearance of a bubble of air, while all other precious stones lose this
singular appearance.

It is quite incomprehensible how the Brazilian government has
not, up to the present moment, bestowed the slightest attention to
this highly important discovery. It would appear it has not appre-
ciated the importance of ever becoming positively acquainted with the
primitive or matter rock of the diamond, which, once known, might
lead to many discoveries as important as that of Santo- Antonio de
Grammagoa, and restore to a highly useful purpose the formerly
worked masses (cascalhos% by collecting and pounding all the pieces
of this rock which could be discovered. With this information it is
probable that in all time coming many more diamonds may be pro-
cured than formerly, which will of course greatly lessen their mer-
cantile value. — L'Institut, No. 379.

6. Dartmoor granite as a building material, — Dr Buckland, at the
Plymouth meeting, exhibited a series of specimens from Lord Mor-
ley's granite quarries, in Prince Town, Dartmoor. To the depth of
fifty or sixty feet the granite is more or less decomposed, and it is sur-
face granite which has been employed in almost all cases, because it
was obtained cheapest ; and the result has been, that in all buildings
which have stood for any number of years, such as Dartmoor prison,
each block of granite has become a spongy mass, absorbing moisture
continually, rusting the iron bars employed in combination with it, and
rendering the cells so damp that they can only be used by covering
the walls within and without with Roman cement or tiles. This de-
fect is inseparable from all the granite which is not quarried from a
depth beyond the influence of decomposition. At the bottom of the
Morley works, a mass of granite is exposed to a great extent, and en-
tirely free from this influence ; it is from this the granite is obtained
now being used for Lord Nelson's monument in Trafalgar Square.

VOL. XXXI. NO. LXri.— OCTOBER 1841, B 0

430 Scientific Intelligence — Geography.

GEOGRAPHY.

7. Expedition up the Euphrates, — A vessel belonging to a leading
firm at Liverpool was sent to sea under sealed instructions, about
eighteen months ago, having on board two iron steam-boats, and other
cargo of a similar unusual description. The destination of the vessel,
as now appears, was the Persian Gulf, the steamers having been
constructed by order of the East India Company to act as a flotilla
for ascertaining the navigability of the river Euphrates. The expe-
dition has been highly successful, having traversed the course of the
stream 1100 miles from its mouth. The following are extracts from
a private letter dated " Belis, June 6," written by Mr Floyd, the
surgeon of the flotilla, and brought by the last overland conveyance :
— '* I am now near Aleppo with the flotilla, having completed the
ascent of the river Euphrates, without doubt one of the noblest rivers
in Asia ; here, at a distance of 1000 miles from its embouchure in
the Persian Gulf, it is 400 yards broad, and very deep. The
Euphrates differs little from the Tigris up to Hilla, a Turkish Arab
town, built near the site of ancient Babylon, except that its banks are
much better cultivated, and in some the date-tree (the Palma dactili-
ferus) adds to the picturesque meanderings of the river ; while in
others, a mosque, with its lackered dome rising from a group of wil-
lows, is a pleasing variety from the monotony of the surrounding
district. The river is enclosed within a valley of high rocks, which
extends from its source to below Hit. They are composed of gypsum,
sandstone, and conglomerates with mica and feldspar. This climate
is delightful, and produces all the varieties of European fruit, be-
sides many of the tropical ones lower down the river. The only
obstacle to the navigation of this river consists in the remains of the
water-wheels used for irrig'ation. In the short space of 130 miles
we found nearly 300 of these wheels, about one-third of which are in
operation at the present day. They consist of large parapet walls
built into the stream, directing the current of the river to the wheels,
which are the most clumsy piece of mechanism, made of branches of
trees, and have slung round them l50 clay vessels to raise the water
in. The wheels are forty feet in diameter, placed at the end of an
aqueduct raised upon well-built Gothic arches. It is surprising the
quantity of water they raise to the surface. They cause a current
of six or seven knots, with a fall of two or three feet where they are,
so that this part of the river is difficult, and somewhat dangerous.
The Tigris to Mosul, the site of the ancient Nineveh, and the
Euphrates to Baulus — I might say to the heart of the Taurus (for
we may go higher) — is now proved navigable." — Liverpool Times —
Athcncewn, No. 721, p. 654.

Scientific Intelligence — Mineralogy^ 4S1

M INERALOGY.

8. Nitrate of Soda Quarries in Peru ; — and Anhydrous Sulphate

of Soda In the moming after breakfast, says a correspondent

of the Literary Gazette, in No. 1279, we set out to examine the
nitre-quarries and clarifying works. The nitre is found upon a
small portion of the plain, extending along whore the latter and high
grounds between it and the sea blend together for a distance, in a
north and south bearing, of about 160 miles ; but nitre-works are
only as yet established upon a small portion of this line. It is com-
bined with the soil to the depth of three feet, the two forming so hard
a mass as to require boring and blasting, after which it is pounded,
dissolved, clarified, and crystallized, and packed off on donkeys to
Iipique, where it sells for three and a half dollars per 100 lb., duty
included. The residuum, after the extraction of the nitre, both from
taste and appearance, could not be mistaken ; while the further in-
formation that it was a deadly poison, and the clothes once wet with
it never dried, still more clearly pointed out the muriate of lime. This
nitre, as it is called, is not the proper nitre, which is the nitrate of
potassa, but simply the nitrate of soda. The proper nitre is an efflo-
rescent salt, which dries up into a light powder when exposed even to
a moist atmosphere, while the nitrate of soda of Tarapaca is a deli-
quescent salt that runs to solution under similar circumstances ; but
the climate of Western Peru being totally destitute of moisture, hence
this nitrate is found to answer well there in the manufacture of gun-
powder as a substitute for the real nitre, and in which way it has
long been applied. In Europe it is used in manufacturing rockets
and other fireworks for saint-day displays in Catholic countries,
and as manure for particular soils. Western Peru furnishing al-
most nothing but the precious metals to make a return to England in
payment of manufactures, hence this nitre was immediately hailed as a
great boon to the return ships by furnishing them a profitable ballast.
Many other mineral substances exist on this coast, from which an
equally good trade might be derived; among which I may mention the
anhydrous Glauber salt, or Glauber salt, having no water of crystalli-
zation, of which a nephew of the celebrated Bolivar at Cobija, who gave'
me a specimen, told me there was an inexhaustible supply in the
valley of Atacama and other contiguous places. The sulphate of
soda, or Glauber salt, is now extensively used in England in the ma-
nufacture of British soda ; hence it may be advisable for mercantile
men to turn their attention to these Peruvian mines, where it is <rot
for the digging ; and the water of crystallization amounting to about

432 Scientiflc Intelligence, '^Mineralogy,

half of tlio weight, hence this Peruvian sulphate must bo double the
value, as relates to weight, to that of England, while only half the
freight is paid in its transmission, from this fifty per cent, absence
of water in its composition.

9. New Mineral Species^ named Anthosiderite. — Description, —
Colour ochre-brown, mixed with grey. Occurs massive, and in sco-
piform fibrous, distinct concretions, which are floriferously grouped
(hence, and on account of its ferruginous contents, the name Antho-
siderite) Is opaque or feebly translucent in splinters.
Hardness = 6, 5. Sp. Gr. = 3.0 —

Constituent parts. — According to Mr Schnedermann, the follow-
ing results were obtained by chemical analysis : —

Found.

Atom.

Calculated.

Silica, . . ,

. 60.08

3

' 61.36

Oxide of iron, .

, 34.99

1

34.66

Water, . .

. 3.59

1

3.98

Corresponding to the formula Fe Si^ -f H.
Geographic Situation, — Province of Minas, Geroes in Brazil, from

whence it was received by Professor Plausmann Posggend. An.

1841, N. 2.

10. Occurrence of Vanadium in Slags from Copper Slate. — The
bituminfus marl-slate of geologists, a member of the magnesian lime-
stone series, frequently contains copper pyrites, and ores of copper, in
which state it is named copper slate. This copper slate is prepared
and smelted on account of the copper it contains in some districts in
Germany, as Mannsfeld, Sangerhausen in Thuringia, &c. The slags
of the copper slate of Mannsfeld and Sangerhausen, according to M. C.
Kersten of Freyberg, afford a portion of the metal named Vanadium,
thus intimating its presence as an ingredient in the copper-slate.

ZOOLOGY.

11. Comparative Anthropology. — M. Serres has lately presented
to the French Academy of Sciences, the inaugural dissertation of Pr
Pucheran, his nephew, entitled '* Anatomical Considerations con-
cerning the Forms of the Cranium in the difPeicnt llaccs of Mankind."
As the conclusion embodied in this dissertation contains a summary
of the instructions given at the Museum of Natural History by M.
Serres, he regards them sufficiently interesting to excite the attention
of the Academy. Of these results, some relate to the difi^erent forms
belonging to the cranium of the Mongolian, Malayan, and Ethiopic
races, considered both generally and with a special relation to the dif-
ferent regions of which it is composed ; whilst others have regard to

Scientific Intelligence — Zoology, 433

the various modifications which occur in the bony elements of the face,
and which contribute to the closure of the sensorial chambers.

In several human races, the Caucasian not included, the general
form of the cranium assumes two principal types. \st^ The globular
form, a character which is characteristic of the Chinese, Baskir, and
Malay cranium, and which corresponds to one of the characters of tho
infantile cranium in tho European races ; and, 2dly, The prolonged
form, which is peculiar to the cranium of the Ethiopic race. Along
with these modifications of the general form of the cranium, there co-
incide the following differences in tho lateral, anterior, and posterior
regions of the cranium. In the lateral region^ the surface for the
insertion of the temporal muscle has a tendency more and more to
enlarge, so that this region becomes more flat, and the zygomatic arch
projects more and more. The occipital region, greatly extended trans-
versely in tho Chinese, Baskir, and Malay, is, on the contrfry,
prolonged backward in the Hottentot and Negro. In the anterior
regioHy in consequence of the straightening of the super-orbital and
tho orbital processes of the frontal bone, the orbital gains in extent
transversely what the capacity of the cranium loses in consequence of
this backward slope, more and more marked by the coronal region. At
the same time the superciliary arches become more and more promi-
nent in these races than in the Caucasian, so that all the modifications
of the lateral and anterior regions tend, \st. To give prominence to tho
masticating apparatus, and so to the instincts of vegetative life ; and,
2o?ty, To augment the visual and olfactory chambers, on account of the
relation of the orbital margin of the frontal bone and superciliary
arches to the orbital cavity and the frontal sinus. This amplifica-
tion of the visual and olfactory chambers becomes much more evident
when we examine the manner in which each of the elements of the
orbit and of the olfactory cavities combines with its analogues in the
crania of the Mongolian, Malayan, and Ethiopic races. Moreover, m'o
perceive that if, in consequence of the extension of the margin and of
the external orbital process of the frontal bone, the superior part of
the orbit gains in extent transversely, its dimensions also augment,
in tho same direction, on the lower margin, on account of the predo-
minance of the superior maxillary and malar bones. Hence, too, the
maxillary sinus must also gain in size, in consequence of the increase
of the facial element which contains it ; and this remark has been
confirmed by our actual examination. At the same time the curve
described by the alveolar process of the superior maxillary becomes
more marked both in front and at either side ; and as a necessary ro-
iUlt, the olfactory chamber also is augmented ; \st. By the increased

434 Scientific Intelligence — Zoology^

size of the maxillary sinus ; and, 2c?(^, By the amplification which
the fluor of the nasal fossa undergoes, all of whose modifications, as
is well known, are intimately allied with those of the roof of the
mouth, and so with the gustating chamher.

These are the principal changes which the crania of the Mongolian,
Malayan, and Ethiopic races have exhibited when compared with
European heads ; and in coming to these conclusions, we have em-
ployed the most scrupulous attention in comparing the different crania
we could command.

We now remark that these changes of form, effected on the cra-
nium and sensorial cavities, become more conspicuous in the Chinese
than in the Baskir, in the Malay than the Chinese, and in the Negro
than the Malay. The Negro appears to be the farthest removed from
the Caucasian tribe ; but here we take occasion to protest against any
thing like apologizing for slavery, than which nothing is farther from
our intention.

As to the constancy of the distinguishing characters which we have
pointed out, future inquiry alone can confirm it, the materials which
we could use being far from ample. The same remark applies to the
encephalic modifications, which correspond to the changes in the form
of the cranium, upon which we have insisted, as all anatomists are
aware of the caution which must here be exercised, the subject of
the comparative encephalotomy of the human races being still in its
infancy. — Comptes Rendus, No. 2. 12 Juli/ 1841.

12. Glarine and Infusoria in Mineral Springs at Stockbridge,

Edinburgh, Mo fat, Sfc ^Mr Lankester found the conferva nivea of

Dillwyn in the hepatic spring on the river Leith, near to Stockbridge,
Edinburgh. He has also found it in the wells of Moffat in Dum-
friesshire, Gillesland in Northumberland, and Middleton and Croft in
Yorkshire. At Moffat he found great quantities of the substance
called glarine, and was convinced of its organic nature. At Moffat
also he found a pink-coloured deposit in the drains outside the wells,
and on submitting it to the microscope he found that it was produced
by an animalcule, but much smaller in size than those which pro-
duced the coloured sediments of Harrowgate and Askern. It had
the characters of a monas, and was not more than xjj^g of an inch
in diameter.

13. Change of colour of the Lepus Amcricanus. — Col. Smith re-
lated an instance of a number of specimens of the Lepus Americanus
being shipped in America quite white ; at the end of twenty days they
had turned quite brown. The hairs were not shed, and the change
must have taken place in the hairs themselves.

New PublicaHons 485

NEW PUBLICATIONS.

1. A General Outline of the Animal Kingdom, and Manual of Com^
parative Anatomy. By Thomas Kymer Jones, Professor of Compa-
rative Anatomy in King's College, London, &c. 1 vol. 8vo. Pp. 732,
with 336 Engravings. John Van Voorst, London. 1841.

An English work on Comparative Anatomy, brought up to the pre-
sent time, has been hitherto a desideratum in our literature. The es-
teemed translations of the celebrated works of Blumenbach and Carus,
and the British Treatises of Fyfe, Craigie, and Grant, are well known,
but these are either in an unfinished state, or much behind the pre-
sent state of this rapidly-advancing and fascinating branch of physical
science. But in Dr Jones's beautifully illustrated volume now before us,
comparative anatomy, in a certain sense, is brought up to the present
time, and contains an accurate, judicious, and interesting account of
the structure of the lower animals, — such an account indeed as will prove
most acceptable and useful to the student of natural history and com-
parative anatomy. It has already become the class-book for compara-
tive anatomy in some of our Universities. An index is much wanted.

2. The Olacial Thcoi'^y of Professor Agassiz. By Charles Macla&en,
Esq., F.R.S.E., &c. Edinburgh, 1841.

The Glacial Theory, as proposed and expounded by Professor Agas-
siz, has been frequently the subject of discussion in this Journal, and
through us it was, we believe, first made generally known to British na-
turalists. The publication of the "^ Etudes sur les Glaciers" has put
the public in possession of all that Agassiz has observed and thought
on this curious subject. The little volume of Mr Maclaren now before
us we strongly recommend to our readers, as containing an excellent
account of the glacial theory, and also of appearances in the middle dis
trict of Scotland, conjectured to be effects of glacial action.

3. A History of British Starfishes, and other AnimxUs of the cIom Echi-
nodermata. By Edward Forbes, Esq., Member of the Wemerian
Natural History Society, &c. Illustrated with numerous plates. 8yo.
Pp. 267. John Van Voorst, London. 1841.

The beautiful and interesting animals of this group of the Radiaria,
which occur in considerable abundance and variety in our seas, have at
different times engaged the attention of British naturalists ; but hitherto
no published work contains anything approaching to a complete cfe-

436 List of Patent9.

scription of the British species, and of their habits and manners. Mr
Forbes, after much actual observation and careful study of all that had
been previously done in this branch of zoology, now presents us with a
beautifully illustrated volume, in which the natural history of our spe-
cies is given, in a way. to arrest the attention of the general admirer of
nature, and to satisfy the demands of the scientific naturalist.

4. A Familiar Introduction to the History of Injects ; being a new and
greatly improved edition of the Grammar of Entomology. By Ed-
ward Newman, F.L.S., Z.S, &c. 8vo. Pp. 288, with many plates.
J. V. Voorst, London. 1841.

This volume, one of the best familiar introductions to Entomology
we have met with, we recommend to those desirous of acquiring ac-
curate elementary information on the history, general physiology, classi-
fication, and mode of preserving insects.

List of Patents granted for Scotland from 22d June to 22d
September 1841.

1. To "William Ryder of Bolton in the county of Lancaster, roller and
spindle maker, " certain improved apparatus for forging, drawing, mould-
ing, or forming shafts, spindles, rollers, bolts, and various other like ar-
ticles."—23d June 1841. ^

2. To John M'Bride, manager of the Nursery Spinning and Weaving-
Mills, Hutchesontown, Glasgow, in Scotland, " certain improvements in the
machinery or apparatus for dressing and weaving of cotton, silk, flax, wool,
and other fibrous substances." — 25th June 1841.

3. To Andrew Kurtz of Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster, manu-
facturing chemist, " certain improvements in the construction of furnaces."
—25th June 1841.

4. To Thomas Young of Queen Street, in the City of London, merchant,
" improvements in lamps." — 28th June 1841.

5. To "William Newton of the office for Patents, 66 Chancery Lane, in
the county of Middlesex, civil-engineer, being a communicationfrom abroad,
of *' certain improvements in machinery or apparatus for picking and clean-
ing cotton and wool." — 29th June 1841.

6. To Morris "West Ruthven of Kotherham in the county of York, en-
gineer, " a new mode of increasing the power of certain media when acted
upon by rotary fans or other simihar apparatus." — 30th June 1841.

7. To Anthony Bernhard Yon RATHENof the borough of Kingston upon
Hull, engineer, " certain improvements in fire grates, and in parts con-
nected therewith for furnaces for heating fluids." — 8th July 1841.

8. To John Swindells of Manchester, in the county of Lancaster, ma-
nufacturing chemist; " certain improvements in the manufacture of axti'

List of Patents, 437

ficial stone, cementi stucco, and other similar compositions." — 9th July
1841.

9. To John Ranoelet of Camberwell, gentleman, "improvements in tho
construction of railways and in the means of applying power to propelling
carriages and machinery." — 15th July 1841.

10. To James Mol,yneux of Preston, in the county of Lancaster, linen-
draper, " an improved mode of dressing flax and tow." — 28th July 1841.

1 1. To Edward Foard of Queen's Head Lane, Islington, in the county
of Middlesex, machinist, " an improved method or improved methods of
supplying fuel to the fire-places or grates of steam-engine boilers, brewers'
coppers, and other furnaces, as well also to the fire-places employed in do-
mestic purposes, and generally to tho supplying of fuel to furnaces or fire-
places, in such a manner as to consume the smoke generally produced in
such furnaces or fire-places." — 28th July 1841.

12. To William Crofts of Eadford Works near Nottingham, lace-ma-
nufacturer, " improvements in the manufacture of figured or ornamented
bobbin-net or twist-lace, and other fabrics." — 28th July 1841.

13. To James Shanks of St Helen's, Lancashire, chemist, " improve-
ments in the manufacture of carbonate of soda." — 28th July 1841.

14. To Richard Beard of Egremont Place, New Road, in the county
of Middlesex, gentleman, being a communication from abroad, " improve-
ments in the means and apparatus to be employed for taking or obtaining
likenessesand representations of nature, and of drawings and other objects."
—28th July 1841.

15. To John Brumwell Greg son, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in the
county of Northumberland, soda-water manufacturer, " improvements in
pigments, and in the preparation of the sulphates of iron and magnesia." —
29th July 1841.

16. To James Lee of 'Newcastle, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, manufac-
turing chemist, " improvements in the manufacture of chlorine." — 3d Au-
gust 1841.

17. To MosES Poole of Lincoln's Inn, in the county of Middlesex,
gentleman, being a communication from abroad, " improvements in tan-
ning and dressing or currying of skins." — 3d August 1841.

18. To Thomas Spencer of Liverpool, in tho county of Lancaster, car-
ver and gilder, " an improvement or improvements in the manufacture of
picture and other frames, and cornices, applicable also to other useful and
decorative purposes." — 4th August 1841.

19. To John Hauohton of Liverpool, clerk, " improvements in tho
method of affixing certain labels." — 11th August 1841.

20. To Thomas Carr of the town and county of Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
being a communication from abroad, " improvements in steam-engines." —
18th August 1841.

21. To Ezekiel Jones of Stockport, in tho county of Chester, mechanic,
" certain improvements in machinery for preparing, slubbing, roving, spin-
ning, and doubling cotton, silk, wool, worsted, flax, and other fibrous sub-
stances."— 20th August 1841.

22. To William Lewis Rham of Winkfield, in the county of Berks,
clerk, " certain improvements in machinery or apparatus for preparing land,
and sowing or depositing grain, seeds, and manure."— 23d August 1841.

438 List of Patents.

23. To Nathan Waddinqton of Hulme, in the county of Lancaster,
engineer, " certain improvements in the construction of boilers and boiler-
funiaces." — 25th August 1841.

24. To John Cox of Gorgie Mills, Edinburgh, tanner and glue manufac-
turer, " improvements in apparatus for assisting or enabling persons to
swim or float and progress in water." — 25th August. 1841.

25. To James Sidebottom of Waterside, in the parish of Glossop, in
the county of Derby, manufacturer, " certain improvements in machinery
or apparatus for preparing cotton and other fibrous substances for spinning."
— 30th August 1841.

26. To Francis "William Gerish of East Road, City Road, in the
county of Middlesex, patent hinge-maker, " improvements in locks and
keys and other fastenings for doors, drawers, and other such purposes." —
2d September 1841.

27. To Samuel Hardman of Farnworth, near Bolton, in the county of
Lancaster, spindle and fly maker, " certain improvements in machinery or
apparatus for roving and slubbing cotton and other fibrous substances." —
3d September 1841.

28. To Louis Lachenal of Tichfield Street, Soho, mechanic, and An-
ToiNE ViEYRES of 40 Pall Mall, watchmaker, both in the county of Middle-
sex, " improvements in machinery for cutting cork." — 7th September 1841.

29. To Joshua Taylor Beale of East Greenwich, in the county of
Kent, engineer, and Benjamin Beale of the same place, engineer, " cer-
tain improvements in steam-engines." — 8th September 1841.

30. To Charles Sneath of Nottingham, lace-manufacturer, " certain
improvements in machinery for the making or manufacturing of stockings
or other kinds of loop- work."— 13th September 1841.

31. To Lawrence Kortright of Oak hall. East Ham, in the county of
Essex, Esquire, being a communication from abroad, " certain improve-
ments in treating and preparing the substance commonly called whalebone,
and the fins and such like other parts of whales, and rendering the same
fit for various commercial and useful purposes." — 14th September 1841.

32. To William Newton of the Office for Patents, 66 Chancery Lane,
in the county of Middlesex, civil engineer, being a communication from
abroad, " certain improvements in machinery for making pins and pin-
nails."— 15th September 1841.

33. To Thomas Craddock of Broadheath, in the county of Radnor, far-
mer, " certain improvements in steam-engines and boilers." — 16th Sep-
tember 1841.

34. To William Newton of the Office for Patents, 66 Chancery Lane,
in the county of Middlesex, civil-engineer, being a communication from
abroad, " certain improvements in looms for weaving." — I7th September
1841.

35. To William Scamp, of No. 11 Charlton Terrace, near Woolwich,
in the county of Kent, surveyor, " an application of machinery to steam-
vessels for the removal of sand, mud, soil, and other matters from the sea,
rivers, docks, harbours, and other bodies of water." — 21st September 1841.

36. To Thomas William Berger, of Upper Homerton, Hackney, in
the county of Middlesex, gentleman, " improvements in the manufacture
of Starch."-- -22d September 1841.

( 441 )
INDEX.

Alford, Aberdeenshire, on its temperature and rain, by Dr Farquhar-
son, 149.

Ancaster in Upper Canada, weather of, 152.

Antediluvial congelation, remarks on, by Dr Black, 38.

Anthosiderite, a new mineral described, 432.

Anthropology, comparative observations on, 432.

Arrangement of minerals, founded upon physical and chemical cha-
racters, 174, 257.

Artesian Well of Grenelle, notice of, by M. Walfordin, 140 ; by Sir
John Robison, 141.

Artesian Wells, 426.

Aurora Borealis, on noises from, 187.

Barry, Martin, M.D., researches on embryology, 195.

Bidder, Dr, of Dorpat, on the origin, structure, and life of the human
hair, 165.

Black, J., M.D., F.G.S., on antediluvian congelation, 38.

Blumenbach, Professor, memoir of his life and writings, concluded
from vol. XXX. 1.

Bohtlink, M. W., on the traces left by the last great revolution in
Scandinavia, 253.

Boussingault, M., on the air found in the pores of snow, 125.

Bowman, J. E., F.L.S., on fossil trees on the line of the Bolton rail-
way at Dixon Fold, near Manchester, 154.

Braconnot on organic matter in primitive rocks, 122.

Brongniart on the conversion of the felspar of primitive rocks into
porcelain clay, 123.

Buch, Leopold von, sketch of his geological investigations and writ-
ings, by Professor Hoffmann of Berlin, 205.

Building materials used in the United States of North America,
described by D. Stevenson, Esq., civil engineer, 12.

Connell, A. Professor, on the chemical constitution of sillimanite,
232.

Copper-slate contains vanadium, 432.

Craigie, Wm., Esq., surgeon, his meteorological observations made

at Ancaster in Upper Canada, 152.
Dalmatia, coast of, its sinking, noticed by M. Kloden, 191.
Dew-drop, account of, by Rev. Wm. Scoresby, 50.
Diamond, its geognostical situation in the Brazils, 428.

442 Index,

Downs of Denmark, account of, by Prof. G. Forchhammer, 61.
Earthquakes in Great Britain, notices of, by David Milne, Esq.,

F.K.S., &c., 92, 259.
Ehrenberg, Professor, his observations on the part which microscopic

organisms play in the choking up of the harbours of Wismar

and Pillau ; also on the mud of the Elbe, &c., 386.
Eschricht, Dr and Professor, his inquiries, experimental and philo-
sophical, concerning the origin of intestinal worms, 314.
Euphrates, expedition up, 430.
Expedition, French nautical and scientific, to the north, report on,

247.
Farquharson, James, LL.D., F. U.S., his meteorological observations

at Alford in Aberdeenshire, 149.
Felspar of primitive rocks, its conversion into porcelain clay, 123.
Fishes, fossil, in the collections of the Earl of Enniskillen and Sir

Philip Grey Egerton, Bart., 144.
Fleming, John, Professor, description of species of a skate new to
r the British fauna, 236.
Forbes, James, Professor, notice of his successful ascent of the Jung-

frau, 376.
Forbes, Edward, M.W.S., on a new genus of tunicated molluscs, 29;

his work on star fishes noticed, 436.
Forchhammer, Prof. G. on the downs of Denmark, 61.
Fossil Trees in the line of the Bolton Railway, by J. E. Bowman,

154.
Geological opinions, changes of, by Capt. Vetch, 56.
Geolooical structure of the northern and central regions of Russia

in Europe, by R. J. Murchison, F.R.S. and E. de Vern^uil, 129.
Glaciers, ancient, traces of, in the valleys of the Alps of Dauphiny,

and in northern Russia, by M. Renoir, 77. Glaciers and ice-
bergs, 56.
Glarine and infusoria in mineral waters in Scotland and England,

334.
Globe, terrestrial, observations on, by Rozet, 188.
Graham, Dr, his list of rare plants, 389.
Granite of Dartmoor, as a building material, 429.
Goodsir, John, M.W.S., on a new genus of tunicated molluscs, 29.
Gymnorynchus horridus, a new cestoid entozoon, described by John

Goodsir, M.W.S., 9.
Hair, human, its origin, structure, and life, by Dr Bidder of Dorpat,

165.
Human bonea of great geobglc;^! antiquity, notice of, 192,

Index, 443

Hydrogen, sulphuretted, its spontatieoua evolution in the waters of

tlio western coasts of Africa and elsewhere, 183.
Intestinal worms, their origin considered by Professor Eschricht, 314.
Jungfrau, ascended by Professors Forbes, Agassi z, &c., 376*
Kloden, M. on the sinking of the Dalmatian coast, 191.
Lepus Americanus, change of colour, 434.
Lyell, Charles, Esq., F.Il.S. &c. notice of his intended expedition

to North America, 200.
MacGillivray, William, Professor, description of Vespertilio Dauben-

tonii, found in Aberdeenshire, 255.
Marx, K. F. J. his memoir of Professor Blumenbach, concluded, 1.
Milne, David, F.R.S.E., M.W.S. &c., on earthquakes in Scotland*

92, 259.
Minerals, arrangement of, according to physical and chemical cha-
racters, 174, 257.
Minerals and ores of Condros, their mode of formation, according to

M. d'Omalius, 426.
Murchison, R. J. Esq., F.R.S., &c., on the geological structure of

the northern and central regions of Russia in Europe, 129*

Notice of his journey in Russia, 201.

Necker, Professor, on Aurora Borealis, and twinkling of the fixed

stars in Scotland, 187.
Nitrate of Soda, quarries of, in Peru, 431.
Opium-Eater, account of,. 198.

Organic matter in primitive rocks, remarks on, by Braconnot, 122.
Oxus, river, its sources, 193.
Parasites, animal and vegetable, as they occur in living beings, and

especially a cryptogamous plant found growing in the air-cells of

an eider-duck, and destroying it, 371.
Patents, list of, for Scotland, from 22d March to 22d Juno 1841, 241 ;

from 22d June to 22d September 1841, 436.
Pelonaia, a new genus of tunicated molluscs, with descriptions of two

species by Messrs Forbes and Goodsir, 29.
Pendulum, convertible, on the proper form of, by E. Sang, Esq.,

F.R.S.E., 34.
Plants, their power of drawing electricity from the atmosphere, 186.
Publications, new, notices of, viz. : 1. General outline of the animal

kingdom, and manual of comparative anatomy, by Dr R. Jones,

435; 2. The glacial theory, by Mr Maclaren, 435; 3. Forbes

on star-fishes, 436 ; 4. Neumann's introduction to the history of

insects, 436.
Renoir, M., on ancient glaciers in Dauphiny, &c., 77.

444 Index.

Robert, Eugene, his report on the collections and geological observa-
tions made in 1838 and 1839, during the French northern nau"

tical and scientific expedition, 247.
Rocks, origin of, as connected with galvanism and polarity, 425.
Rozet, observations on the sm'face of the globe, 188.
Sang, Edward, Esq., F.R.S.E., on the proper form for a convertible

pendulum, 34.
Scoresby, William, D.D., on the colours of the dew-drop, 50.
Sea, indications of its former higher level at the Mauritius, 190.
Sepulchral remains of ancient nations dispersed throughout the North

of Europe, 378.
Siau, M., on the action of waves at great depths, 245.
Sillimanite, analysis of, by Professor Connell, 232.
Skate, a species new to the British fauna, describe'd by Professor

Fleming, 236.
Snow, composition of the air contained in its pores, by M. Boussin-

gault, 125.

red, animalcules of, by Dr C. H. Vogt, 239.

Societies, their meetings reported — Royal Society of Edinburgh, 397;

AYernerian Natural History Society, 401 ; Society of Arts for

Scotland, 405.
Springs, Thermal, on the banks of the river Oxus, 194.

hot, of Greenland, 194.

Stars, fixed, their twinklings in Scotland, by Professor Necker, 188.

falling, notice of, by Sir John Herschel, 425.

Stevenson, David, Esq., on the building materials of the United

States, 12.
Sulphate of soda, anhydrous, in Peru, 431.
Trees, fossil, at Dickson Field, near Manchester, 154.
Vanadium found in copper-slate, 432.

Vegetable physiology, in reference to the age of trees, 388.
Vespertilio Daubentonii found in Aberdeenshire, and described by

Professor MacGillivray, 255.
Vetch, Captain, notes on icebergs and changes of geological opinions

56.
Vogt, Dr C, on the animalcules of red snow, 239.
Volcanic ashes at sea, 192.
Waves, on the action of, at great depths, 245.

sdinbuxoh: pbintso us nzihh & co., old fishmarket.